Lentils

Lentils were not a food that was included in my diet as a child, so it has taken me sometime to really appreciate their versatility & utter deliciousness in many recipes. They are so easy as they don't require soaking & cook much faster than many grains & legumes. They are also very easy to sprout which adds extra nutritional value if the recipe is a Raw one.
For most households, clever ways to include healthy but cheaper foods & added protein as part of the weekly menu, can be of value, so recognise how marvellous those little lentils can be in stretching the budget when it is called for!
Lentils work wonderfully in soups & veggie casseroles; they are low in calories & fat & add bulk with good fibre & additional protein to any recipe; they are high in magnesium as well as having a list of other beneficial nutrients for heart health & combine deliciously into a yummy lentil salad or even a side dish.
 Lentils are readily available to purchase in bulk, but it can be a good idea to store them in jars in your pantry with a label stating the variety & cooking instructions, to avoid having to look up how to cook them each time you use them.
There are many varieties of lentils, ( green, brown, black & red are the most common) the French Green Lentils, Lentilles du Puy, are actually my personal favourite. I love their tasty slightly peppery flavour but all varieties offer similar health benefits & can be cooked & enjoyed in any number of ways.  The Black or Beluga Lentils are the smallest ones with a delicious nutty, earthy flavour which are perfect for whole grain recipes & salads, whereas the Red Lentils whilst the sweetest, are often transformed into a golden puree & added to soups, curries & casseroles.
I like to rinse my lentils first in a colander, picking out anything that may not be lentil & gathered up in the harvest! I then pop 1 cup of lentils to about 1 1/2 cups of veggie broth or water in a saucepan & bring to the boil, then simmering gently until they are al dante, so checking regularly; if they are overcooked they become mushy which of course is not an issue if you intend blending the recipe, but I find them more enjoyable when they are just a little chewy. Some people remove the saucepan from the stove once the lentils come to the boil, pop a lid on  & let them then sit for 5-10 minutes before serving or adding to a recipe.
I prefer to sprout them whenever I can, as they then become an excellent addition in many Raw Food Recipes, especially salads; they can also be used sprouted in crackers & breads in a most delightful way, remembering of course that sprouted foods are especially high in nutrients & I believe better than cooked, when you can manage to eat them this way !

Some Basic Ideas.
Lentils encourage home cooking, sprouting & creativity & it is very easy to invent your own favourite way of including them in the menu.
One idea is to add some veggies to the simmering lentils no more than 5 mins before they are cooked or keep a veggie portion of choice, raw, & just add to the lightly cooked or sprouted lentils.

I suggest as another example, you could do this;

Chop up & lightly fry these veggies & add to the lentils
1 cup  onion,
2 cloves garlic
1 cup mushrooms
1 cup celery
1 cup  carrot
1cup frozen or fresh corn
1 cup red pepper
1 cup kale or spinach
1 cup fennel

Once added to the lentils fold through a sauce of your choice

This could be something along these lines

Mix together testing for personal flavour before folding through warm veggie lentil mix,

1 tea salt, more may be required
1 tab tamari
1 tea garlic powder
1 tea ground cumin
1-2 tab balsalmic vinegar
1-2 tab olive oil
1-2 tab rice vinegar
1 tea curry powder
1 tea dried mustard
1/2 tea smoked paprika

Cooked lentils also go beautifully with buckwheat soba noodles, just add some lightly steamed broccoli florets & leeks or veggies of your choice & dress with olive oil, garlic & ginger for a quick & easy meal.

ENJOY!

 

 

 

The Wonders of Tumeric

 Photo from the Internet



If you are new to the wonders of Tumeric then there is more to this healing herb than meets the palate.
You've probably heard of this exotic sounding spice, found mostly in Eastern recipes, so perhaps you have not had the chance to try it.
Aside from its growing popularity as a cooking herb world wide these days, Tumeric is also known to be one of Nature's most powerful healing herbs. The root of the plant is somewhat similar in appearance to ginger although well recognised by its bright yellow root; it is typically dried & used as a seasoning, most commonly in Indian dishes, but it can now be more readily found in selected Supermarkets & Health Food shops in its fresh form. Internally ingested or outwardly absorbed, Tumeric is a benefit packed wonder herb & can help keep you healthy inside & out. This savoury herb contains a bevy of health benefits including reducing inflammation in the body & assisting the brain to continue functioning efficiently well into old age.
The bright yellow colour has been known to put some people off using Tumeric as it is well known to stain clothes mercilessly with the slightest drip or splash! An Indian lady once told me to wash the clothing item as usual & lie on the grass to dry & the stain will disappear.......well she is right, it does work brilliantly, so there is no need to be concerned about possible unsightly stains.
My constant reminder continues however......I strongly believe, through personal experience, that including emotional work in any desire for an extraordinary & healthy life is a vital component & swallowing all the herbs, pills & even great food that God provides for our wellbeing in Nature, is only part of any solution. Honouring the sacredness & gift of life through keeping our bodies healthy & nutritionally supplied with natural whole foods is part of this challenge, but as an example, will not help too much if we are angry, resentful, non forgiving & without compassion, gratitude & love.
In our household, I add a little Tumeric to some soups & stir fries, dips, curries & veggie dishes. I find it does not have a particularly strong flavour if used in moderation so there is an opportunity to add it to many recipes as an additional part of any diet. I think it would be fair to say however, that I tend to leave it out of recipes when entertaining guests, but this is really not necessary & purely a personal choice I make. I find it does turn the dish yellow without too much encouragement, so in some instances this may need to be considered if presentation is taken into account!



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Cherie Soria's Healthy Tips

I am one of Cherie's greatest admirers; she owns the Living Light Culinary Institute where I trained some years ago as a Raw Food Chef & she always breaks knowledge down so simply, so anyone can understand at a glance how best to look after our bodies; I thought you might like to consider some of her dietary suggestions, those healthy choices to include in your diet, and those, when regularly consumed, are more likely to lead to health issues as time goes by. Each & every mouthful is creating & maintaining our bodies, so wisdom is called for if we wish to stay away from Doctors & live a long & healthy life.
Here are Cherie's guidelines.






There are of course additional factors, other than food, affecting our health, stress being one of them along with unhealed & suppressed emotions; the latter plays a big role & we see this with childhood damage being carried into adulthood & affecting lives in many ways when not addressed.

Close your Eyes & Imagine

This Blog is somewhat out of the ordinary for me, as I don't usually write so much about any subject, but I hope you will bear with me as I feel it is so important to share some recent revelations.
Jesus & Mary recently pointed out to our family some very alarming & confronting insights about how we have used animals to support our livelihood & accumulate wealth, whilst at the same time being quite happy to have them eventually mercilessly slaughtered or sold on to other farmers perpetuating the meat industry. Some of our family members are actually Vegans whilst others are Vegetarians, so there is definitely something hypocritical & very wrong here! This confrontational conversation has brought about a number of things including emotional mayhem and delving further into our acceptance in the past of how animals are treated once they leave our farm. "Why would we want to be part of such a atrocious industry" has lead us down a dark tunnel of shame & remorse.

Please forgive me if I appear to be standing on a podium right now, but this alarming realisation led me further to read Will Tuttle's insightful yet horrifying book "The World Peace Diet" & I must say it has had a profound & sickening affect on me.....anyone still Eating Meat or lingering between being a Vegan or a Vegetarian (not Eating Meat or Fish but still eating Dairy & Eggs) might care to take a look at this book if they desire to be a true Environmentalist & make a real difference in the World.
I first must make it very clear, that I have been part of a farming family all of my life, I ate meat 3 times a day as a child, & have been regrettably responsible for propagating & earning a living from animals & the meat industry most of my life in some form or other. I do not wish to now become an enraged Vegan, judging others & the atrocities going on in the animal world, as I feel this would be nothing short of hypocritical in my case, but I do believe it is only through education & wanting to know the dark secrets held in Animal Agriculture, that real change can begin to take place. "Wanting to Know & getting out of Denial" is only the 1st step as Jesus pointed out, understanding the whole picture over & above including the choices we place on our dinner plate, will all contribute towards many taking action, emotionally, ethically & morally as well as for better health, a peaceful Planet & a more joyful World honouring & supporting all of Creation.
I have been Vegetarian on & off for many years, 15 years back in the 90's & 5 years recently, but I have still eaten eggs & dairy when the recipe includes them & I am a "dinner guest", or when emotions kick in & I wish to stuff them down with a dairy delight or a milk coffee as an example! Giving up dairy has been particularly hard, I have found it is totally addictive & is closely related to perceived childhood nurturing for me....I have failed over & over in my efforts as I have been unwilling to engage the process emotionally. I have thought of every reason why it was & wasn't that important in the scheme of things....it's like when you are looking for a green car, all you see are green cars, & all I wanted to see was information supporting my choices! "My body needs the protein when I'm not eating meat" , "it makes it impossible to go out to dinner" " I will be judged as a loony",  "vegan choices are so limiting & I don't know what to cook"  etc etc, has kept me in my addiction & fear of being judged by others.
After so many conversational revelations & then reading Will's book I can see how blind I have wanted to be to my chosen actions, both on & off the farm & how much I have not wanted to address my emotional baggage, grief & shame or even look at the far reaching ramifications of my actions & why I convinced myself it was all OK. My pride & arrogance in believing I loved animals & the Planet & thought I was an environmentalist having saved water, planted trees, switched off lights, recycled home commodities etc, has finally caught up with me & I have needed not only some deep reflection, but also many emotional realisations. The interconnectedness between how we treat animals by eating them & stealing their eggs & the milk from their babies, is totally reflected back to us in humanity & yet so few are willing to see the connection.
I will not go into further detail but I hope you will see the connection between this blog & my passion for food, what we choose to put on our plates, & how we treat animals.
The current state of the World & Humanity is a total reflection & result of our past & current actions. Our dismay at the ongoing wars & terrorist activities, the rage & unloving behaviour that is so prevalent in many of us, the horror of how many women & children are treated so appallingly, the deteriorating health of Nations, the materialism & consumerism particularly of the West, the starvation & homelessness of many, the loss of our rainforests, water resources & animal species, & endless other issues that flood our World, do offer an opportunity for immediate action. The right action will eventually bring about solutions when enough of the World's population says "enough is enough"; by changing our false beliefs & demands & emotional disconnectedness from all life including one another, we can contribute towards the challenge in one small way as an example,  "one bite at a time" through what we purchase and what we put on our plate. People Power is worth remembering & keeping in mind that "As we sow, so we Reap".
I do hope some of you may be drawn to read Will's book, " The World Peace Diet" ( available from Amazon & most outlets) and that you are perhaps drawn to share it with others.

"Seeing our eating habits for what they are, and answering the call of our spirit to understand the consequences of our actions, we become open to compassion, intelligence, freedom, and to living the truth of our interconnectedness with all life. There is an enormously positive revolution implicit in this, a spiritual transformation that can potentially launch our culture into a quantum evolutionary leap, from emphasizing consumption, domination, and self-preoccupation to nurturing creativity, liberation, inclusion, and cooperation.”

~ The World Peace Diet, Dr. Will Tuttle

Point of View

By Shel Silverstein

Thanksgiving dinner’s sad and thankless,

Christmas dinner’s dark and blue,

When you stop and try to see it

From the turkey’s point of view.

Sunday dinner isn’t sunny

Easter feasts are just bad luck,

When you see it from the viewpoint

Of the chicken or the duck.

Oh, how I once loved tuna salad,

Pork and lobster, lamb chops, too,

Till I stopped and looked at dinner

 From this other point of view.

Jesus & Mary's teachings can be viewed and explored on www.divinetruth.com

Vegan Substitutes.....Let's give them a Try!

One of the most difficult parts of any transition from a traditional diet to a plant based diet is knowing how to retain flavour & what substitutes work equally well in any recipe; I have been amazed how substitutes work so well & there is no sense of deprivation when choosing a healthy recipe over one containing dairy products, eggs, wheat, meat & many grains. Here are just a few you might like to try.



Substitute   Dairy Milk          with nut milks or coconut milk. Almond milk is creamy & light,           
                                               coconut milk imparts the richest flavour but has a coconut flavour
 
                   Buttermilk           1 cup of nut milk plus 1 tab lemon juice or 1 tab vinegar
 
                   Cheese                 Nutritional Yeast has a cheesy flavour, otherwise make vegan nut
                                                                                                                                         cheese

                   Cream                 Pop a tin of coconut cream in the refrigerator  for an hour, then whip
                                              or soak cashew nuts & blend until creamy adding a little water


                   Gelatine              1 tea gelatine powder =  1 tea powdered agar agar ( dissolve in hot
                                                                                                                                      liquid)
                   Chocolate           Cacao takes chocolate to a whole new level of healthiness! Try some in
                                              in the recipe below for "Choccie Wonders"!

                   Butter                When baking beat  3 parts coconut oil + 1 part water to substitute butter
                                             Or use olive oil/ macadamia or coconut oil for frying

                   Meat                  Mushrooms & dishes with mushrooms are delicious & great for burgers
                                             as a substitute for the meat; walnuts are also used in many ways.
                 
                  Fish Sauce         Add some dulse to Apple Cider Vinegar

                   1 egg                 Use 3 tab apple or sweet potato puree or 3 tab whisked silken tofu
                                             To bind a recipe, 2 tab cornflour or tapioca flour + 2 tab water
                                             If too wet....add 2 tab flour or breadcrumbs or oats or tomato paste

                   2 eggs or more 1 Seed egg = 1tab seeds ( chia/flax/linseed) +3 tab warm water
                                            or for each egg replace with 1/2 mashed banana or 3 tab apple sauce or
                                            sweet potato puree or non dairy yogurt

                 If baking a cake For lighter results, add 1/2 tea baking powder extra
                 If egg heavy like quiche  Thicken with whipped tofu mixed with a little chickpea flour

                 Spaghetti           Using a spiraliser or a veggie peeler, zucchini or carrot  noodles replaces
                                            wheat flour in most noodle products beautifully; other substitutes for 
                                            white flour recipes you can use almond meal, cauliflower for pizza bases,
                                            lettuce cups to replace white flour tortillas, quinoa to replace white rice.
         RECIPE

        "Choccie Wonders"...... A dark chocolate treat to nourish your body & is simply Delish! 
                                                  A great alternative to those milky Easter Bunnies in stores now.

• 1/3 cup dried coconut chunks/shreds
• 1/3 cup cashews
• 1-2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• 2-3 tablespoons honey/maple syrup/agave
• 1 teaspoons peppermint oil
• Pinch of salt

Chocolate Layer

• 1-2 tabs of melted coconut oil
• 1/3 cup cacao powder
• 4-5 tabs maple syrup or honey
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 tea cinnamon & cayenne

Method 

1. Blend all ingredients together until smooth. 
2. Pat into flattened discs with your hands and place them in the freezer to set for around 30 minutes.
3. Process all ingredients from the chocolate layer together until smooth.
4. Dip each minty disc in the chocolate sauce and watch them harden almost immediately!

 

Let's Go Nuts

With a special thanks to James & "Food Matters" I thought you might enjoy this small segment on Nuts.
I seem to have been caught up in many things of late & this blog has suffered, so apologies, but I have some great thoughts floating around in my head, which I will get to share with you all in the months ahead.

PREVIOUSNEXT

James Colquhoun (Filmmaker, Food Matters & Hungry For Change)

We’re crazy about nuts! They’re convenient, delicious and portable. Plus they’re bursting with health benefits. Here's 5 of our favorite ways to incorporate them into your day.

We’re crazy about nuts! They’re convenient, delicious and portable. Plus they’re bursting with health benefits. Packed with healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, protein and fiber, they’ll help curb your appetite, keep you regular, and help to maintain healthy gut bacteria.

Plus a mere 30g serve can help reduce your risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart attacks and stroke!

What’s not to love?Here’s our favorite ways to incorporate them into your daily diet.

1. Spread It Around

Make your own nut butter to use as a spread, in smoothies and homemade ice cream, or salad dressings for extra creaminess. Simply process soaked or dehydrated nuts (dry roasted works too) in a high speed food processor until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides when necessary. If you need to add a little oil, do so, but make sure it’s light in flavor to prevent overpowering the nuts! Store in an airtight container, and resist the temptation to double dip to help it last longer.

2. Add Some Crunch

Excite your tastebuds by tossing some activated nuts into your salad. They’ll bump up the protein and fiber content, as well as add an extra textural element to your dish. Walnuts, pecans and pine nuts are especially delicious alongside leafy greens!

3. Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

Curb your cravings with nourishing bliss balls and nutty homemade granola bars. Activated nuts are perfect additions to snacks as their protein, healthy fat, and fiber content helps to keep you satisfied until your next meal. Blend fruits such as dates, figs, and cranberries with raw nuts for a delicious bliss ball; or combine nuts, fresh dates and your favorite granola (or just oats!) for quick and easy granola bars. Just press the mix firmly into a lined container and refrigerate to set.

4. Say Cheese

Vegans are onto something by swapping regular cheese for cashew nut cheese. Simply blend soaked raw cashews with nutritional yeast flakes, lemon juice, and any other seasonings you desire e.g. sea salt, pepper, garlic, mixed herbs. Enjoy with crackers, as a spread, or as a creamy cheesy dip with vegetables. Swap the yeast flakes for a little sweetener and vanilla, and you’ve got a creamy vegan cheesecake filling too!

5. Bake Them

Almond meal and hazelnut meal make especially brilliant alternatives to regular flour for a highly nourishing base to your baked goods. Trial it in muffins, cookies, cakes and bread loaves. Our tip: Typically you can’t substitute regular flour for nut meal cup for cup due to it’s higher fat content. So if you’re not one to experiment in the kitchen, opt for making recipes already using almond meal to avoid ‘baking fails’.

Side note: We're big believers in activating your nuts! Not only does it increase the nutrient value of the nuts, it also breaks down the problematic compounds that help enhance their digestibility.

Little Bursts of Goodness in so many Recipes

    Picture supplied from the Internet...thank you





I just love to have a supply of lemons & limes on hand in my kitchen. Aren't they the most delicious of fruits to enhance almost any recipe & to include in our diet. Whether we enjoy Raw Food or Cooked, I imagine that lemon & limes are on every weekly grocery list as the juice or zest thereof are included in so many meals. I use them almost everyday in some form or other, perhaps even as a simple  basic dressing with a healthy oil, garlic & salt & pepper added to the juice or as a marinade to soften raw veggies like kale, cabbage or broccoli.
Although lemons & limes may not be what we would choose for an afternoon snack, they are powerhouses when we want to bring out the flavour of other foods, both sweet & savory. They "brighten" a recipe making it a magical addition & often help balance out the sweeteners, as well as having antioxidant properties & Vitamin C for wellbeing. I think many of us can remember making a delicious refreshing lemon or limade with our mother as a child & we often see lemon or lime juice added to a cocktail or a drink we might enjoy whilst watching the sun go down in the West!  If you are using the zest as well as the juice to add even more lemony/limey flavour, remember that conventionally grown fruit will probably have pesticide on the skin, so an organic fruit would be more desirable when using the zest; the white pith under the skin is bitter so avoid this in the recipe.
Always select fruits that are rather thin skinned, those with thicker peels have less flesh & are therefore less juicy. Choose lemons & limes that are heavy for their size with peel that has a finely grained texture, both keep well in the refrigerator for some weeks. The juice freezes well  Possibly the sweetest lemon is the Meyer lemon; most varieties are tart, acidic & astringent, but are also surprisingly refreshing.
If I am wanting to juice them, I like to have them on the bench top for some hours to warm up; they produce more juice when warmer, so use at room temperature or place for a few minutes in warm water. Rolling them under the palm of your hand on a flat surface also extracts more juice.
Throughout the eons, lemons have been used for a myriad of non culinary purposes as well. The juice can be added to household cleaning recipes, it is a bleaching agent & has a multitude of other uses even dating back to the days of witchcraft!

One of my favourite deserts is a lemon or lime tart......Key Lime Pie is a well known popular choice, but here is another Raw, but simple recipe, you might like to try.

For the Base.

Mix together 1 cup of walnuts with 4 dates, a pinch of salt & a tea of vanilla & press into a spring pan

Blend the following well until smooth & pour into the base.

1 cup soaked cashews or macadamias
1/8 cup water ( can use more citrus juice instead of the water if desired)
1/4 cup of your chosen sweetener ( agave, maple or rice syrup)
1 heaped teaspoon coconut oil
A few good squirts of lemon or lime juice with the zest, keeping the mix still reasonably thick

Refrigerate for an hour, top with a sprig of mint & more zest if desired, before serving with coconut cream. Some like to top with a couple of blueberries or a small lemon or lime wedge. ENJOY!