Year 4 begins
Ah, it brings a tear to my eye as I realise that my baby’s growing up.
Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
My little blog has just about graduated from toddlerdom: 21 January marked a very foodly diary‘s 3rd birthday.
While still very much about my adventures in food, the content has changed as my mindful eating business has grown.
Over the last 12 months with A Foodly Affair and a very foodly diary, I:
- published 34 posts, including 15 new recipes (either as guest posts or foodly experiments!);
- attended a week-long retreat with a raw food guru;
- looked into what makes bread and fortified cereals so bad; and
- made my own beauty bar.
I don’t exactly know how a very foodly diary will change and grow in its 4th year, but I would love for you to be a part of its morphology. One of the ways you can do this is by leaving comments against posts that really rile/excite you, involving yourself in AFA facebook conversations, following my sometimes random trains of thought on AFA’s twitter feed, or by taking part in my occasional polls and surveys.
In my posts of 1 and 9 January, I put out a call to action via a Polldaddy survey. I also committed to bringing you the results of that survey – and here they are!
What you said you wanted from a very foodly diary in 2012*
First of all, thank you to those of you who took the time to complete my survey [it really did take a whole 5 minutes, didn't it?] and to volunteer your preferences. I really appreciate you!
The results from my recent survey show that you want to see more recipes (30%), reviews (22%) and research (22%), with personal anecdotes (15%) and food facts (11%) trailing behind.
As well as notes of congratulations and [thank you kindly!], I received some specific comments on the content that you would like to see, including:
- more frequent posts;
- better organisation – eg. tabs for recipes and other major post categories;
- more foodly experiments;
- seasonal recipes.
You also told me that you wanted to know more about classes (40%), food coaching (40%), talks (20%), catering (20%) and consulting (10%).
[* Note that percentages against questions do not necessarily add to 100. This is due to the fact that respondents were able to select multiple responses for a number of questions.]
What I will deliver
While I can commit to delivering some of what you have asked for (thanks to the facts that I have a compulsion for foodly experiments, and I love to use seasonal, local and organic produce), there are other aspects that I will find more challenging.
Organisation. I promise to keep categorising posts. I will develop a more accessible menu system as time progresses (and I am aiming for 2012), however I can’t promise that this will happen quickly. All of the work on my blog is completed by me and this relies on my very basic html and css learnings.
Frequency. With baby’s birth positively imminent, I will find it hard to commit even to weekly posts for a few months. I will continue to do my best to post regularly and accurately. I will also actively source articles (in the form of guest posts) from knowledgeable and interesting people.
Information. I will let you know more about each of AFA’s services, with examples in future posts. In the meantime, you can get hold of basic information regarding these services via the AFA website.
For those of you who seek more information on classes, workshops and talks, you will find it on AFA News as it happens and in AFA’s monthly newsletter [sign up >>here<<].
>In case you are interested, I also recently published AFA’s basic calendar of classes. You can uncook with me again from May!
Thanks so much for sticking with me through another year. This year (coincidentally, the Chinese Year of the Dragon) has started with an awesome bang and I am so excited about what it promises for you and for me.
H 
Guest Post 5: The Hangover
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Pauline, a friend who has selflessly put her sobriety on the line to test out hangover remedies just for you, and all in the name of research [thanks, Pauline!].
I am sure you will enjoy her post, and maybe even take away a few useful tips.
H
*
The Hangover: hangover tips
or “Have you ever experienced a fabulous night out but paid the price the next day?”
by guest blogger Pauline Tarrant
Planning the big night out. As well as choosing what to do, where to go and what to wear an important choice is how to avoid the big hangover.
Preparing for a big night out is sometimes like preparing for a triathlon: the body is about to go through a multitude of challenges and the first step is to get hydrated. If you are not the person who remembers to drink a glass of water with every alcoholic drink getting hydrated before you go out is a good option.
If drinking lots of water isn’t your thing, then milk can help ‘line the stomach’ (as my dad says). My friends and I tried this many times with a good level of success.
Attacking the hangover. So here are the Top 4 Rescues counted down, and how they help your body:
4th place: Marmite. Marmite contains salt, which is important to help retain the fluids you have left in your body and it is a great source of vitamin B12. B vitamins are important in the fight against the Big H. Of course you may be more familiar with Vegemite but, following many trials, Marmite seems to give the best hangover relief. The B vitamins can also be replaced by Berocca – which is also great, as this ensures you are getting fluids in too!
3rd place: Bach Rescue Remedy.. In my youth I spent many a morning working in a kitchen. Luckily my boss was into natural remedies and used to give me this. The alcohol solution gives you a small ‘hair of the dog’ fix while the flower essence gives you reassurance [it reassured me that I could survive the full shift!].
2nd place: Peppermint or Ginger Tea.. Both tick some critical boxes including rehydration, soothing nausea and indigestion. Ginger also has pain reliveing properties that should help the headache. Ginseng tea is also reported to have similar positive effects but I have not tested this.
1st place: Strawberries. Strawberries offer a tasty way of replacing the vitamins destroyed by alcohol and are so juicy helping to replace vital fluid levels! More good news for this yummy berry is that it can also act as a preventative hangover measure. If you don’t have strawberries on hand, bananas are also another great cure.
Smoothie magic. Even more effective than the Top 4 Rescues, the best cure I have found was recommended to me during a stay at Samudra in Dunsborough: chlorella. Just in case you can’t get chlorella in tablet form you can make an awesome smoothie, this is especially good if you are off for the second night in a row and need an energy boost as well as hangover cure and a boost to fluid levels!
>Note from Hannah: for a basic overview of chlorella’s properties and benefits, you can do a quick google or follow this link.
Recipe #128: Chlorella Smoothie.
Pop into your blender or Thermomix the following ingredients:
► 1 frozen banana
► a small handful of berries
► ½ tsp chlorella
► ½ tsp spirulina
► 1 tsp cacao powder
► 1 tsp maca powder
► 1 tsp acai powder
► 1 glass fortified soy, rice or oat milk
► 1 tbsp honey
Put the blender on high (or speed 8 on the Thermomix) for 1 minute, pressing the Turbo button from time to time.
The drink is enough for two so you can share with a friend or save some for the morning after. When you have tried the smoothie a few times, try slowly increasing the chlorella to maximize the effectiveness of this superfood!
[DISCLAIMER: This article is designed for people going out on a reasonably big session - not an all day, all night party. Sleep might be the only way to help recover from that!]
My guest posts typically get lots of clicks well after they are published – because I only choose talented & interesting people to write on a very foodly diary! Check out previous guest posts via their links:
- Guest Post 1: The Green Smoothie – by Marion Egger
- Guest Post 2: Pure Decadence – by Aileen Sforcina
- Guest Post 3: A craving for flourless orange, coconut and almond cake – by Adrianne Barba
- Guest Post 4: Mango & Avocado Salad – by Joshua Jones
Ain’t no liquor in liquorice
I love liquorice (aka “licorice”) in all forms, or at least I thought I did until I tasted a triple-salt variety last weekend. The black cats and coins were ok. Even the soft double-salt triangle had its charms. Maybe it’s my pregnant tastebuds, the low added salt in my diet, the unfamiliar tang of ammonium chloride, or a blend of all of the above. No, I did not like the three-times salt, not one bit.
This is a usual reaction of non-Dutch zoute drop tasters, the nice Dutch man said as he effectually patted my pretty little head. I guess I will have to be satisfied with my Anglo-Saxon/Chinese/Italian heritage and accept that I do not have an in-built preference for salmiakki.
I had assumed that, given the name, liquorice may have originally contained alcohol. I was wrong. Seeking an etymological description to explain the name and history, at least in part, I discovered that the word ‘licorice’ is rooted in Latin with an Old French influence (from liquere – to liquefy – and reglisse - after the method of extraction). The Anglicised ‘liquorice’ apparently came about c.1600.
Liquorice is traditionally contraindicated in pregnancy as it is linked to stimulating uterine contractions, premature labour and raising blood pressure. Although most reports of liquorice’s pregancy-related side effects are suspected or anecdotal, I did manage to find one definitive study: high consumption of liquorice (100g+ of pure liquorice per week) while pregnant is associated with lower IQ and behavioural disorders in the child.
For the general population, so long as you do not suffer from high blood pressure, liquorice promises some amazing health benefits. Its therapeutic use in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine is well documented and diverse; it can be used to promote good oral hygiene, aid weight loss, and treat ulcers and eczema – amongst other cleansing and protective functions.
I have developed this week’s recipe in honour of this herb – with thanks to @bradav & @Claudia_delaMot for sharing flavour pairing ideas! While it could benefit from tweaking, I think you will find this recipe to be refreshingly different, with a pleasant and lingering sweetness.
Recipe #127: Cherry liquorice sorbet. If you apply my method, it will take you 15-24 hours to make this recipe, thanks to brewing & freezing time. I used organic ingredients and Mac, my Thermomix (TM), to create this recipe. I also used a kettle, a teapot, and an icecube tray and a flexible baking dish to freeze my ingredients.
You will need:
► 2 tsp dried liquorice root
► 1 tsp dried peppermint
► 75g dried cherries [not a technical measurement. I had 14 dimples in my icecube tray and placed 5 cherries in each dimple. 5 dried cherries = 5g]
► 60g panela, pre-ground into a fine powder
► the seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod
► 810g (about 810mL) water
There are 4 main steps to this recipe:
(1) brew the tea;
(2) plump the cherries;
(3) freeze everything; and
(4) turn it into sorbet.
For (1), place the liquorice root and peppermint into a tea pot and wet with cool water. Start to boil the water in your kettle, but heat only to the point that the kettle becomes hot to touch (~50°C). Turn off the heat and pour the water over the herbs, then allow the tea to brew for around an hour. Do not strain all of the tea afterwards; you will use some of the tea in step (2) and the rest in (3) after more brewing time.
(2): Distribute the cherries evenly across the icecube tray. Pour some of the (strained) tea from (1) over the cherries and cover the tray; leave overnight. Leave the remainder of the tea to brew overnight.
(3): The next morning, place the icecube tray in the freezer. Strain the rest of the tea, which has brewed overnight, into a flexible baking dish and also place this into the freezer. Leave everything to freeze completely.
(4): Remove your cherry cubes from the icecube tray and crack your tea into icecube-sized pieces. Place all of this into your Thermomix (or I am sure you could use a decent food processor/blender) with the panela and vanilla. Process until you have a beautifully homogeneous mixture [TM: speed 7-8, using your TM spatula to constantly push and work the mixture from the TM lid, for as long as it takes to get a smooth sorbet].
Serve on chocolate dirt [crumbed remnants of raw choc pastry from my pretty little raw petit fours] with little pieces of dried cherry. The dried cherry pieces candify in your mouth when combined with the ice cold sorbet.
At one day shy of 37 weeks pregnant and with a naturally low blood pressure, I reckon my risk of ill effects from moderate liquorice enjoyment to be negligible – making this sorbet my newest low guilt treat.
H
PS. For those of you who haven’t yet taken the plunge, I have extended the closing date for my 2012 survey to 14 January:
Thank you to those of you who have completed or are about to take the survey! I will use the results to better meet your needs as a reader and/or client.
Addendum of 9/01/2012: I corrected the weight of cherries in the recipe to 75g after a remeasure this morning, although I’m not sure that the 5g would make a detrimental difference. I also included an instruction to strain the liquorice-peppermint tea before freezing.
What I want from 2012
Image courtesy of Naypong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Happy New Year! I hope your New Year’s Eve celebrations were excellent and that you have some awesome plans for 2012.
With its many fascinating twists and challenges, my 2011 was a brilliant learning curve – and, if I’m honest with myself, that is exactly as I wanted it. A true adventure.
Instead of recounting achievements like I did last year, here is an abridged glimpse of my gratitude list:
- 2011 gave me the opportunity to become my own boss 100% – and I grabbed it with both hands!
- I have a gorgeous, growing, blended family, with the most amazing man in the world.
- My friends and family are open and supportive, no matter how long it is between phone calls or visits.
- I am surrounded by positive people and energy. People have come into my life at exactly the right time and every one of them has taught me something new.
- I have reclaimed my health and my life.
I am so blessed.
Many articles and artefacts influenced my thinking in 2011. Five of my favourite topics include: ♥ the action-inspiring Holstee Manifesto ♥ research on neuroplasticity and authentic happiness ♥ epigenetics: why our genes are not our destiny ♥ telomeres, cancer and aging ♥ confessions from a former big food executive
In looking forward to 2012, I researched New Year’s resolutions and discovered that most people share very similar resolutions, which inevitably relate to health and self-improvement.
*** Gratuitous plug: if you are one of the many who has made a NY resolution relating to health, please consider coming along to my “Juices, Smoothies & Salads” Uncooking Class on Thursday, 12 January. Your investment of $55 will give you new flavours, techniques and info that will help you to be more creative in the kitchen; more details via AFA news. ***
On the strength of stats that tell me I am more likely to achieve my goals if they are small and tangible (even if they are labelled as NY resolutions), I have reversed my usual anti-resolution stance and set a number of tangible goals for myself and my family this year.
I will share one in particular, as it relates to you: I will be more present. I will open my ears and be more responsive to you, as a reader or client.
To help me to better understand your needs, I would appreciate it if you could click on the button below and complete my 7-question, 5-minute survey [closes 10 January; results to appear in a future blog post]:
So, what do I want from 2012? I want success in everything I do. Living authentically, I want my world to be harmonious, courageous and incredibly happy, and I want to make the world a better place by being the best version of me that I can. I want love, laughter and adventure – and all to the soundtrack of my own drum.
May 2012 bring you everything you need (and maybe just a little bit more). I have a really good feeling about this year already.
H
Very merry and delicious indeed
Our little family recently enjoyed a long weekend away to Western Australia’s picturesque south west.
We stayed in Prevelly, one of the sites most affected by the November-December bushfires. My thoughts are with the families who lived in the 39 residences lost, and also with the fire-fighters who did such a fantastic job of safe-keeping hundreds more.
Although much of the countryside remains eerily clad in communities of blackened twigs and burnt up stakes, new shoots have begun to emerge amongst the carnage. Tourists are lining the beaches and the locals are upbeat.
This was a trip of discovery. It taught me much about myself and the nature of the family holiday. Never again will I expect to relax with two (almost three) kids in tow, and never again will I take stolen moments of quiet for granted.
It also brought new tastes: as we returned to Perth, we chanced upon precious wares from WA’s first ‘bean to bar’ chocolatier.
Gabriel Chocolate
Gabriel Chocolate is located on Caves Road, Yallingup. As well as artisan chocolate, you will find hot chocolate, Five Senses coffee and baked chocolate treats in the cafe – and a soccer ball and totem tennis set on the lawn outside to keep the kids amused while you’re getting lost somewhere in Venezuela. Or Ghana. Or Madagascar.
While you can comment on the size of each chocolate particle and the perfection of the tempering process, I appreciated the tiny quirks of this beautiful product – and, in any case, it’s the flavour I crave. I was not disappointed with the smooth, rich texture and I also loved the fact that each block is single origin.
I could not resist purchasing a gift pack containing all of the 85g dark chocolate blocks on offer [in the name of research, of course]. I just hope that enough of each lasts until next week, when I plan to taste them side by side.
Want more? You will find a thoughtful blog post on Gabriel Chocolate at Cafe Grendel.
Samudra
After Gabriel, we lunched at Samudra. I don’t think I have to reiterate just how much I love Samudra’s inviting energy and inspiring philosophy. It is one of my happiest places indeed. I’m feeling a little achey on the inside for missing out on yoga this time around.
Though none of the cafe floor staff from my last visit were there, the service was prompt and friendly.
We started with green smoothies and cacao nut milk, before feasting on ‘Chilli Non Carne’ [= raw zucchini pasta, mixed with a tasty sauce featuring carrot, celery and mushroom] and ‘Kombi Breakdown’ [= a superdelicious dhal]. These dishes provided ample shareage for two big people and two little people.
If you haven’t already been to Samudra, please do. You can day trip it to Dunsborough from Perth, and it’s also the perfect place to relax on that weekend away.
My gift to you
I also want to give you something to celebrate the festive season. This recipe comes sans photographs, courtesy of my hungry tummy. When I first laid eyes on A Dash of Compassion’s no-bake apple tart, I knew I could modify it for a raw palate. So I did. The apples really benefit from a prolonged soaking time, and try to source Granny Smiths if you can.
Recipe #126: Apple pie.
You will need a Thermomix (TM), food processor or a good blender to make this raw recipe, as well as a cake or tart tin lined with baking paper.
The ingredients – for the crust:
► 2 cups of walnuts, ground into a crumb
► 4 dates
► 20mL coconut oil, warmed to a liquid
► 1 pinch of salt
– for the date cream:
► 1 cup of dates, soaked in just enough water to cover them
– for the filling:
► 5 medium-sized apples, cored, peeled and finely sliced
► 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
► 4 cloves, ground
► 1 generous grating of nutmeg
► juice of 1 lemon
► 1¼ cup of apple cider vinegar
► ¼ cup of panela or rapadura
Start by lining a baking tin. Make the crust by processing all ingredients together until it forms coarse crumbs that clump when pressed together. Press the crumbs across the base and up the sides of the tin, then place into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Prepare the filling by placing all ingredients into a large bowl and soaking for at least 4 hours, and preferably overnight. Carefully fold the ingredients together several times over the first 2 hours to ensure they are well combined and the apple slices are completely coated.
Make the date cream by blending/processing the dates together with their soaking water until a creamy texture results. Spread the date cream over the base of the premade crust. Fill the crust with neatly layered slivers of the softened apples and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Serve in generous slices straight from the fridge, drizzled with maple syrup, topped with nutmeg and candied orange zest. Eat. Enjoy.
I don’t know about you, but our Christmas has already started to ramp up. My best wishes to you and your family for the holiday season. Keep safe and happy, and I hope to see you here again very soon.
H
Nutty nog
I was going to hold out on providing my latest festive recipes until the week before Christmas but I’ve decided to start sharing now, given that we are within two weeks of the day and this is post #200 [pretty cool, huh?].
This recipe is the decadent version of my almond milk, and the result of smell memory and usual suspects and a very specific 2-weeks-ago craving. I am pleased to report that it worked exactly as desired on my first attempt.
Recipe #125: Nutty Nog. To make this recipe, you need a Thermomix (TM), decent blender or food processor, and a nut milk bag and/or fine strainer (chinois). Makes enough for one person over several sittings, or you can share it with 3 others if you really want to.
You will need:
► 3 cups of almonds, soaked for 2 days then drained (rinsing the almonds and changing the soaking water at least once per day)
► 750g water [1g is approx. equivalent to 1mL, but I weighed my water rather than measuring its volume]
► 1 star anise
► 4 cloves
► 1 generous shaving of nutmeg
► 1 stick cinnamon
► 1 vanilla pod [use the pod only; scrape the seeds from the inside and use them in something else]
► ¼ cup of panela [= evaporated cane syrup. You could use another sweetener in its place, like agave or maple syrup; add a little at a time so as not to oversweeten]
► 1 pinch salt
First, make the nut milk. Blend together the pre-soaked almonds and water [TM: 30 seconds on speed 8, then 30 seconds on speed 10]. Strain through a nut milk bag.
This is where the instructions diverge:
- If you happen to have a Thermomix – pour the nut milk back into the TM bowl with all other ingredients. Set to 37°C, reverse speed and speed 2 for 5 minutes; or
- If you don’t have a Thermomix, set up a double boiler, and pour in the nut milk. Add the other ingredients and heat, stirring frequently, until the surface just starts to steam, then remove from the heat. Let it sit for 10 mins.
Strain, using a fine chinois or nut milk bag, then serve immediately.
Be bold and try your own variations on the theme. After I created my version, I read other recipes that called for olive oil, which apparently creates an even creamier texture. While this sounds great, I am hooked on my original recipe for now.
Although this will store in the fridge for up to 3 days, it tastes best when made fresh and warm. I hope you like it.
H
If you would like to come along to my Christmas Uncooked class in Perth on 14 December, there is still a place for you. More details are available via AFA news. I would love to see you there!
6 common pregnancy challenges & how to deal with them naturally
Image: Louisa Stokes / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Now into my eighth month of Pregnancy #2, and having experienced so many comfort-challenging textbook symptoms, I feel well qualified to share with you the remedies that have worked (or not) for me in trying to have a healthy, happy pregnancy. Most of these remedies incredibly have something to do with the use of food or food products.
If you are an expectant/current mum, I hope this post helps you in some way. If you are a dad, a son, a daughter, a non-child bearing friend – or even someone like me in Pregnancy #1 (with no symptoms other than tiredness, a steady growth rate, and wonderment as to how other women could find pregnancy itself difficult) – I would ask that you read this anyway, as it may give you some insight into what someone close to you may be experiencing.
I won’t talk in detail about my cravings and aversions again here, as they were the subject of a previous post, however I will let you know that my cravings started to disappear at Week 24. My aversions remain, so agave syrup and coconut oil are still out for me.
1. Morning sickness. My morning sickness was a 10-week-24/7-I’m-about-to-throw-up feeling from the time I woke to the time I went to bed. Icky yucky.
No one knows the exact cause of morning sickness, many speculate over it, and everyone seems to have a remedy to offer – and there are some useful ideas to be found in friends’ heads and online. You just need to find what’s right for you.
If you do happen to suffer from morning sickness, take heart that it may be a good thing for your baby: recent research has linked morning sickness to a higher IQ for baby [and, judging by the strength of my morning sickness, I'm pretty sure my baby is a genius!]. This, of course, does nothing to alleviate the symptoms.
What worked?
- Dry watercrackers.
- Ginger biscuits. I think the sweetness helped as much as the ginger.
- Eating on waking. Before even getting out of bed in the morning, I would often eat a dry cracker to quell my tummy.
- Ginger tea. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not.
What didn’t work?
- People telling me to “ignore it and it will go away”. You think hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? Try a pregnant woman invalidated.
- Back-to-back meetings didn’t help.
2. Heartburn/reflux. I had one night of heartburn, which turned out to be a precursor to a minor gastro bug, but that one night was pretty awful. If you haven’t experienced it, heartburn is characterised by symptoms such as a burning sensation in the chest/throat, chest pain or tightness, an acidic taste in the mouth, and nausea. BabyCenter in the UK and the US suggest many excellent natural remedies, several of which worked for me.
What worked?
- Lying on an incline to sleep.
- Herbal teas – peppermint; ginger & coriander.
- Eating smaller meals more often. I started doing this after my single episode and experienced no problems thereafter, hence I claim this remedy as a success.
What didn’t work?
- In spite of its brilliant health benefits, my foray into slippery elm bark powder was a dismal failure. I forced myself to drink an entire mug of mucus-like gunk that had possessed no hint of the ‘pleasant tasting beverage’ promised on the label. I still shudder at the thought of that night.
3. Problems sleeping. As you get bigger and your favourite sleeping posture becomes off-limits, it becomes harder to get a good night’s sleep. There is a theory that the insomnia and lack of comfort that comes with pregnancy is merely baby preparing you for your new, post-birth routine – and, after my first experience, I think there may just be some truth in that.
What’s working?
- Sleeping surrounded by pillows. I sleep with three pillows at the moment, including one between my legs, but this arrangement only gives comfort for part of the night. More frequent trips to the bathroom during the night mean that I am never comfortable for long. There are a number of pregnancy pillows on the market now, and apparently they really work [in case anyone is scratching their head over what to get me for Christmas].
- Foot/back rubs before bed. These work awesomely.
- Hot chocolate. It’s like a hug from the inside.
What hasn’t worked?
- Everything else.
4. Leg cramps. Cramps are common during pregnancy because of the extra weight you are carrying and the added nutrients your body needs to support a growing baby. I have rarely had a night without a cramp since entering the third trimester.
What’s working?
- Prevention: eat foods high in magnesium and calcium – like green leafy vegetables, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
- Prevention: drink water. You need more water to support all that extra blood and tissue. Don’t let yourself dehydrate.
- When you get a cramp: immediately flex your foot and press your leg into the floor with your whole weight behind it. This may be painful at first, but it’s the quickest way I can think of to quickly alleviate a cramp.
What hasn’t worked?
- Forgetting about the propensity to cramp and stretching out with pointed toes in the middle of the night. It’s been a painful learning curve.
5. Back pain. In pregnancy, aside from putting on weight, your centre of gravity changes, you become more flexible, your pelvic bones shift, and your posture can be affected. Even if you don’t suffer from acute pain, there is a good chance you will ache after a long day.
What’s worked? Everything I have tried so far has worked brilliantly, including:
- Chiropractic treatment. Brilliant for fixing that pinched sciatic nerve.
- Yoga. Strengthens your muscles so that they can deal with all the extra relaxin in your system.
- Regular stretching.
- Valor oil. One of the Young Living blends, I recently discovered that this oil is known as the ‘chiropractor in a bottle’ [thanks to the lovely Helen for sharing!]. It also smells amazing.
- Massages. I promise this isn’t a very public ploy to score more massages; they really do help!
6. S-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d skin and muscles. It was during Week 27 that I had The Three Days of Feeling Stretched Beyond That Which A Human Has Naturally Been Stretched Before. Then it happened again at the start of Week 30. Now, in Week 32, I am roughly the size of a whale.
I can not fathom the fact that baby still has more growing to do; I’m sure I wasn’t this big with my son. Nevertheless, I have no stretch marks from either pregnancy (so far), so these tips are truly tried and tested.
What’s worked?
- Shea butter – after every shower, from my knees to my hairline, since I started to notice my baby bump.
- Cocoa butter. Last pregnancy, my moisturiser of choice was cocoa butter. This is thicker and greasier than shea butter, which is fine for the winter but uncomfortable in this summer heat.
- For the last month, I have also been washing with my homemade unsoap every few days. This is rich in beeswax and cacao butter, to encourage supple skin.
I hope these little learnings help you as they have helped me. There is so much more out there on the web for you to discover for yourself (like these gems from Natural News). Good luck!
H
Christmas bounty
I have been researching and experimenting with food ideas for my ‘Christmas Uncooked’ class in Perth on 14 December. After spotting a particular choc-coated coconut bar on a recent shopping expedition, I thought to myself, “I could make those raw.” So I did.
Now I have to be honest with you. I have not ever eaten a full Bounty Bar simply because I wasn’t a huge fan of coconut as a child. It has also been years – maybe 20, maybe more – since my last incomplete bar.
When you add all of that to the fact that my pregnant tastebuds aren’t behaving normally, it all points in one direction: External Taste-Testing Team. I didn’t have to look any further than my own home for three willing taste-testers and they all labelled the end product as “delicious”.
Recipe #124: Raw Chococo Bars. Makes at least 15 small bars / 30 cubes. In terms of special equipment, you will need a food processor, good quality blender or Thermomix [TM] to make this magic happen. You will also need at least one 20cm x 20cm baking tray and a large plate/cookie tray covered with baking paper.
You will need:
► 400g desiccated coconut
► 100g coconut oil
► 55g agave syrup
► 50g honey
► seeds scraped from ½ vanilla pod
► a good pinch of salt
► 1 quantity of raw chocolate [as per Recipe #92]
Start by liquefying the coconut oil [TM: set to 37°C and speed 3 for 3 minutes - you can also melt the coconut oil over a double boiler], then process this together with around half of the coconut as well as the honey, agave syrup, salt and vanilla until it formed a coarse paste [TM: speed 6-7 for 30-60 seconds, scraping down the sides every 10 seconds].
Stir through the remaining coconut [TM: reverse, speed 5 for 30 seconds, using a spatula to scrape down the sides every 7-10 seconds] until well combined.
Press the mixture into an even layer in the cake tin, score the surface gently with a pizza wheel [optional step: to encourage more chocolate to stick to the surface], then place the tin in the freezer for about an hour to chill.
Next step: CAREFULLY turn out the mixture and cut it into bar shapes with a very sharp knife. [I say CAREFULLY because I was a little gung ho my first time around and ended up with a crumbled mess that I had to re-melt and re-set. This is why you had no blog post on Sunday ].
Place the bars back into the freezer to chill out for another hour or so. This step is important. Because you will be coating the bars with chocolate, you don’t want the coconut oil to melt into the chocolate = dripping, horrid sludge of a mess (though still very delicious, I am sure).
Prepare your chocolate and place it in a large bowl. Remove the bars from the freezer. Coat the bars very quickly one at a time, using a long spoon and a fork; allow excess chocolate to drip off the bar, as this will give you a neater finish. It’s not a problem if you do end up with a foot around each bar; just cut the excess from the bottom of the bar with a hot, sharp knife (heated under hot water then wiped dry immediately before use).
Place each bar onto the baking paper and, when all bars are finished, return these to the refrigerator or freezer for at least 10 minutes.
Serve, eat, enjoy. Just remember that this is chocolate that will melt in your hand.
As well as these bars turned out, I think they would benefit from another round of freezing and a second chocolate coating. I also don’t think my choice of sweetener was correct. More experimentation is definitely needed but I am happy enough for now. Let me know what you think!
H
If you are interested in coming along to my ‘Christmas Uncooked’ class, please contact me to let me know of your interest. The class will run from 6-9pm on Wednesday 14 December; cost: $120 [venue TBA]. This recipe may or may not feature in the class; I will be experimenting with a raw version of Cherry Ripe as soon as my order of organic cherries arrives. Yum, yum.
Pasta uncooked
If you decide to go 100% raw, chances are that you will miss one or more of your favourite foods. Pasta was one such food for me, when I was eating a 100% raw diet last year. Then I discovered raw pasta.
Raw pasta is one of those foods that, when you taste it for the first time as a raw foodist, you rejoice. You realise that you can still get your pasta fix without the cooking or the empty white flour. And, if you are not a raw foodist, you can still appreciate the flavours, textures and colours in the dish.
So what is raw pasta made of? In its simplest and most usual form, it’s spiralised zucchini, tossed in a cold-pressed oil and a little salt. If you don’t have a decent spiraliser*, you can create long ‘pasta’ strips by peeling the zucchini down to its seeds. You can then coat your pasta with a nut-based dip or a tomato-based sauce to create a dish similar in texture and taste to your favourite conventional pasta dish, and that is sheer bliss.
In my post of 6 August 2010, I introduced Matthew Kenney’s cashew nut cheese. This turns spiralised zucchini into a wholesome kind of macaroni cheese and it is pretty darned moreish. I have since modified this cheese recipe for my own tastes and needs, and it features as a staple meal selection at home.
Even though I had made a delicious raw soup using butternut pumpkin (also known as butternut squash, depending on where you are in the world) in September last year, I was not inspired to use this versatile vegetable for any other raw dish until my David Wolfe retreat at Samudra in February [thanks again, Leisa!]. Chef Brenden Vallejo wowed us with his creativity at every meal, and I was particularly impressed with his pumpkin pappardelle, which he matched with reishi, shiitake and porcini mushrooms. Needless to say, it wasn’t long thereafter before I too tried my hand at pumpkin pasta.
This recipe takes a fair amount of preparation time, especially if you are like me [= deathly slow at using a peeler], so allow yourself 30-45 minutes to make it the first time around. As always, I recommend using local and organic ingredients.
Recipe #123: Raw Butternut Pumpkin Pasta. Serves 6-8 as an entree.
[Incidentally, I think it's kind of fitting that Recipe #123 is so easy to make - so easy, in fact, that my 3-year old was able to help me with some of the elements! Now when someone asks me about the difficulty level of a task, I can tell them, "It's as easy as recipe number 1-2-3." Sometimes I don't think I should blog late at night...]
You will need a good vegetable peeler, whisk (or fork), citrus juicer (or fork), mortar & pestle (or fork) and two large bowls. See how versatile and essential a fork can be as a kitchen utensil?
Ingredients you will need:
► 1 small butternut pumpkin
► 1 clove garlic
► apple cider vinegar
► good olive oil
► salt, to taste
► pepper, to taste
► 110g walnuts, shelled & weighed out of their shells
► few sprigs marjoram
► dulse flakes, to serve
► [optional] parsley flowers, to serve [I actually think that fennel flowers would be brilliant with this recipe]
Start by preparing your pasta. Cut the ends off the pumpkin and peel off the skin; all of this can be composted. Next, peel long, thin strips from your pumpkin, as long and even as you can make them. Peel until it gets to hard to handle or you get close to the seeds. Place the peeled pumpkin into a large bowl; save the rest of the pumpkin for another recipe. My efforts reaped 550g in pumpkin ‘pasta’.
Next, make the dressing. To do this, pour a good lug of apple cider vinegar and twice as much olive oil into the other large mixing bowl. Roughly crush the garlic clove and add it to the bowl; do not finely chop the garlic, as you want to remove the bits of garlic before you use it on your pasta. Add a sprinkling of salt and a few grinds of pepper.
Whisk until the emulsion becomes creamy in texture. Taste. Add more of anything you feel is lacking. Whisk well. Taste again.
When you are happy with the flavour, pour a little dressing (minus the garlic) over the pumpkin pasta then toss it through, ensuring that just enough dressing is added to coat your pasta without making it dripping wet.
I am deliberately imprecise with my measures for the dressing, as it all depends on personal taste. You can quickly make more dressing if you need it. It also stores well in the fridge if you make too much.
Next, crush the walnuts into large crumbs, using a fork or a mortar & pestle, and add to the pasta.
Remove the marjoram from its stems and finely chop, then add it to the pasta.
Toss all of this through the pasta very well, tasting and adding more salt and pepper as needed (and it will probably need more salt).
Serve stacked beautifully in a bowl and sprinkle with dulse flakes and parsley flowers, if you can get your hands on them.
Please give this recipe a go and let me know what you think. While it does take a bit of prep for a dish that requires no cooking, this comprises no more time and care than a decent pasta sauce and it looks just as impressive.
Have an excellent week!
H
*Spiralisers are mechanical kitchen devices that shave vegetables into long, thin strips. Different types and brands are available from many home & kitchenware shops, organic/health food stores, and online (eg. via Raw Power, Healthy Valley Organics, Raw Pleasure).
Raw beetroot hommous
This week’s post was going to be about healthy Halloween treats because I have noticed that this year Australian stores are particularly heavy with Halloween merchandise. Then I realised that, as Halloween has no special significance to me, I would just be rebranding my favourite raw treats [like icky sticky nutty bars and smoodgy coconut balls] with spooky names. That seemed a little pointless to me.
So I decided to keep a promise and blog about that instead.
Sally challenged me to create a raw version of the delicious beetroot dip that she brought in to work a few weeks ago. I did, and here is the end result for your reading and eating pleasure.
Recipe #122: Raw Beetroot Hommous. To make this recipe, you will need a Thermomix, food processor or good quality blender.
You will need:
► 1 heaped tsp of cumin seeds
► 2 cloves of garlic
► 60g of walnuts
► 3 medium-sized beetroot, trimmed, washed and cut into quarters but not peeled
► 100g of tahini
► 100g of good olive oil
► the juice of 1 lemon
► a good swirl of apple cider vinegar
► 1 tsp of salt, finely ground
► 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper
► pepper, to taste
To create the hommous, start by grinding the cumin seeds [speed 7 for 60 seconds in the Thermomix (TM)]. Add the garlic cloves and process until finely chopped [TM: speed 7, 5 seconds], then add the walnuts and beetroot and finely chop [TM: speed 7, 5 seconds].
Add all other ingredients and process until a coarse paste forms [TM: speed 6 for 15 seconds]. Taste the mixture and season to taste (often more cumin, salt, oil or acid is needed). Process again, then taste. Repeat this process until you are happy with the result, remembering that the garlic and cumin flavours will grow overnight.
Enjoy as a dip with vegetable sticks or plain crackers – or try blending it with some apple juice for a raw soup in technicolour. I would consider adding lemon zest and coriander to my next batch, for added freshness.
Beetroot is so very good for you and this version makes for a refreshingly different twist to my usual raw hommous, which I make with zucchini. And, incidentally, my zucchini hommous recipe will feature in A Foodly Affair‘s next newsletter – hopefully a little incentive for you to sign up to the AFA newsletter, via the website, if you haven’t already!
Thanks for the inspiration, Sally.
H
recent comments