Tasty Tuesday - my most recent creations

I thought I'd do a quick picture post of some of the yummy food I've been eating recently. If you don't have Instagram then you will be missing my posts! 

Dehydrated avocado and dill crisps

Durian!

Sprouted lentils and chickpeas

Dehydrated banana and cinnamon wheels

Dehydrated burgers

Dehydrated burger with "ketchup" and "mayonnaise"

Romaine lettuce wraps

Another dehydrated burger

Pasta and dehydrated pizzas

Fully Raw Pumpkin pie

Banana berry ice cream

Raw vegan coleslaw

Fermented red cabbage

Rainbow romaine wraps

I have been loving salads recently, especially wraps with coleslaw, I have been so creative this month that I have not been out of the kitchen. I really want to perfect burger making and also try to make a decent pizza base. I would also like to try making sausages too so that come Christmas I can have my own raw vegan Christmas dinner.

If you want to know the recipes for anything then comment and I may deliver.

Ciao for now

Jennifer x

Think Thursday - Fad following

Today I want you to think about following the latest trends that are later termed fads.

Do you get easily excited? Are you the first to jump on the bang wagon? Do you go from one thing to the next as easily and as often as changing your underwear?!

If this sounds like you, then you may have already considered a raw food or even just a high carb vegan diet. When I say the term diet in this sense I mean eating a certain way for a certain amount of time. To me lifestyle means commitment for the long haul.

So if you are one of those people who have gone back and forth between diets then this is what you need to seriously consider.

What are you doing it for?

If you are eating for health then you need to consider your nervous system. What is optimal for your nervous system? Of course I will tell you a raw vegan diet is optimal, that's the whole point of my blog ;) but you need to make sure you feed your body the best sources of vitamins and minerals and where do these come from?? You guessed it, fresh fruits and vegetables. Preferably organic, but if not I at least encourage you to try to grow your own salad.

You should consider swapping your alcoholic beverages for a freshly squeezed juice or smoothie (in fact you should never poison your body with alcohol again!), take a 15 day course of probiotics 2-4 times a year and stop eating white refined carbohydrates to help your nervous system stay in good condition. Probiotics are a great supplement to take throughout the year to get your gut flora back into tip top shape, especially if you experience diarrhoea or illnesses alike.

Why is this diet going to work when the previous ones didn't?

You really need to keep this in your mind. If you do go from one diet to the next after losing weight and then putting it back on you really do need to question the diet. You are damaging your body the more you yo-yo from one to the other, so do you really want to risk causing a serious illness?

Does it really seem like a healthy diet?

We all know that fruit and vegetables are incredibly healthy for us, the government, TV, shops, etc go on about eating 5 a day (and research has suggested that the minimum amount should be increased to 10 a day!), so I think when you include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet you know you're onto a winner.

My concern is that people think that they need protein, especially animal protein. NO! Leave the animal in the field. If you feel like you want to eat protein (bearing in mind we need no more than 10% from our calorie intake) then get it from sources made from plants. Plants are miraculous. They are sun foods. They are living foods (unless you cook them of course). Why would eating anything dead be good for us? (Referring to paleo here)

To me, these are the main points to consider. 

The raw vegan diet may not be easy, it may not be 100% convenient, but if you think about it in terms of what it can do for your HEALTH, your BODY and your LIFE, well maybe you will consider it.

Stuff your face with fruit all day, drink loads of different smoothies, eat so many different fruits, fill up on greens and get that raw vegan glow!

If you want help transitioning to a raw vegan lifestyle or just want some friendly advice about buying fruit or increasing your fruit intake send me a message.

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday - beet greens

Good day to you all, I hope you're having a wonderful Tuesday. I know for some this is the worst day of the week but if you think that way it will always be that!! :-)

Today I want to rave about the greens you get at the top of beetroot. I remember when I was first introduced to the large savoy spinach leaves, they tasted so salty and so juicy I was happy too because it was a leafy green that tasted good (unlike normal lettuce, which sometimes I find bland and often bitter). However, the spinach was sprayed with pesticides and I got a slight odor from eating them so that love affair was short lived. I definitely still recommend trying them though, just not eating it every day.

The beet greens are even better than spinach because first of all it has a pink stem (yay for pink food) and secondly because it is practically free with your purchase of beetroot!!

Packed with calcium, iron, sodium and vitamin A this green is great for your salads. It adds colour and flavour so it is win win all round. Eat it whole, chop it up or blend into a soup, you have options for days!

Unfortunately I don't have anymore now, so it's back to bland lettuce for now! 

If you would like help transitioning to a raw food lifestyle I am happy to help, send me a message or comment below. 

Jennifer x

Kidney cleanse Thursday

Technically today should be my 3rd day of the colon cleanse, but due to other circumstances I am doing a kidney cleanse today with the final day of the colon cleanse tomorrow. 

During a kidney cleanse you drink freshly squeezed lemon juice and distilled water. Thankfully it is only done for 1 day. 

To prepare

1. Juice 20 lemons - 20oz
2. Mix 12oz lemon juice with 96oz water

Start the morning with half a pint of lemon juice, drank through a straw. I did this over a 5 minute period and I recommend drinking a lot of water beforehand. Then every hour drink the mixture of lemon juice and water. This is done for 12 hours in total.

If you do this cleanse after the colon cleanse then you will not poop much (or at all in my case), so if you need to go out for some time then you should be alright, as long as you take your drink with you! However, it is recommended that you stay at home and chill out. Let your body clean and heal.

This cleanse is good if you have kidney stones or eat the type of foods that put a lot of stress on your kidneys. The latter being the majority of the population; people who eat meat, dairy, salt, caffeine, etc.

Again I recommend changing to a raw vegan diet, your body will be much cleaner and you will have so many benefits, including softer glowing skin, stronger nails, more energy and vitality.

Get cleaning your insides and start a healthier diet!

Jennifer x

Make it Monday

Smoothie

I watched a video yesterday that was in response to seeing a long term high-carb low-fat (was raw but now promotes cooked) vegan pouring sugar onto "cardboard" cereal and topped with soy milk. The message in the response was something I had not considered and I am taking on board.

I admit that I am a person who often does not try to see something from every angle and this has caused naivety and ignorance in the past. I will do my best in the future to look at everything objectively and from every possible angle.

The videos I am referring can be watched them here and here.

So with the message that Hannah delivers I am taking things back to basic.

Are you new to raw foods? New to a vegan diet? Finding your current food routine boring and want to switch it up a bit?

Well today I want to give you all some smoothie ideas and I want to make it as simple and as cheap as possible. The excuse that fruit is too expensive or it is unsustainable is nonsense and I will not accept it!

The base for these smoothies is simple, ripe bananas.

Make sure they are spotted, soft but not squidgy and easy to peel.

Depending on what you're adding to your smoothie I recommend using as many bananas that will provide you with 90% of the calories you require from this meal. Want a 1000 cal smoothie, then you will need just over 1kg bananas and then you can make up the rest of the cals with some of the following.

Berries

I love my berry smoothies. Raspberry, blueberry, strawberry and blackberry. I'm sure there are more, but these are the most common ones I buy. I buy frozen berries in winter and fresh berries in summer. I use about 100g mixed berries in my banana smoothies and this is quite affordable.

Dates

If you are using dates, my recommendation is to go 50/50 with the calories, so for 1000cal you'll need just under 600g bananas and 200g dates.

Mango

Personally I tend to only add one or two mangoes to my smoothies because I am not a lover for prepping this fruit. I like it when they are juicy enough to just squish and then suck!

Persimmon with a hint of cinnamon

A perfect combination if you have any left over juicy persimmons. Most people have cinnamon in their cupboard so just add a half or full teaspoon depending on your taste for cinnamon.

Spinach/lettuce

Always a winner to make banana smoothies green. You can have this at any time of the day and sometimes I would have it for breakfast and then again for dinner. I find that if you are too busy to make a salad in the evening then adding lettuce or spinach to your smoothie is a great alternative.

Home made almond milk

This is to make your smoothie creamy and fatty. It's a real treat and delicious to drink. Read my post from last year for the instructions on how to make it. Probably not on the cheaper side of things, but if you want to try something new then I recommend it.

I hope that you are able to enjoy your smoothies. There are so many more different combinations that you can try with other fruit as the staple, but I find bananas are the most versatile fruit and combine well with others (I wouldn't use melon though). I can get organic bananas for £4 - £8 a box for 18kg. It is the most reliable fruit and the best staple around. 

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

Today on Tasty Tuesday I have had an idea for making raw "cottage pie". So this recipe requires a "mashed potatoes" topping with a "meaty" gravy base. I thought about this at work because someone was eating something that looked like cottage pie. It used to be one of my favourite meals as a meat eater, especially topped with melted cheese...so now I want to try and make a raw version because I like getting creative in the kitchen.

I already know what the mash will be made from. It will be cauliflower. Below are some receipes that I will consider using and modifying for my pie.

Megan Elizabeth's video

The Rawtarian recipe

I do not want to add any salt or oil to my mash and the only issue I have with Megan's recipe is the coconut meat, because I do not think I can get my hands on a coconut she describes. I want to experiment with using a nut milk/cream to make it more sloppy like my mash potatoes would be and this will hopefully make it creamy. I know there is a whole controversy about nuts being raw, but on my "fully raw" year I will eat some nuts (in milk form) and I am having nutritional yeast too.

For the "meaty" base layer I need to find a good raw gravy recipe so I can marinate some vegetables in it before topping with the mash. The vegetables I am thinking about using are probably going to be onion, mushrooms, a small amount of carrot, some other soft vegetables and I want to shred/grate something with a chewy texture that can be the "meat".

I have a feeling I will struggle with the gravy. Again I want to avoid oil. I want this meal to be low fat, plus with the nut milk the gravy will have to contain as little fat as possible.

This is going to be a work in progress, but please do wait for the outcome. I'm sure I will try it soon :)

Much love

Jennifer x

Think Thursday

Welcome to Think Thursday!

Last year I decided to go vegan, first I went vegetarian in January and then towards the end of February I stopped eating dairy (although my official vegan anniversary date is 19th May). I went vegan with the intention of being a raw vegan, so I was high raw for days and then I'd give in to my cooked food cravings, or I'd see some vegan food I'd never tried before and ate that. I always felt like I let myself down. 

I did two fully raw 30 day challenges and kept disappointing myself by eating cooked foods. The weird part is this, I had been telling myself for the last few months that I would be fully raw from January 1st and so far I have not craved cooked food (that normally happens on the first day because I am "denying" myself of something). 

I think the fact that I had thought about it for a few months and made it my resolution, my body has just accepted it so far. As long as I stay prepared then I can only win in this situation.

So my thoughts are that as long as you think about something, set a date and make sure you are prepared for the commitment and your plan is easy to implement and maintain, then your body and mind can just make that switch over night.

I know it is only the 2nd of January and tough times may lie ahead (this is my 3rd raw day), but I am feeling really confident now about this. In fact I am super excited about the journey that I will have this year by eating fully raw.

Have you ever experienced anything like this before?

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

It's Tasty Tuesday and also the last day of 2013!

To me the start of a new year means change. I always try to think of ways to enhance my life and improve what I already do. For me this year I will focus more on my diet (as in what I eat on a daily basis) and my fitness.

So, without further ado here are some of the foods I will eat in 2014.

A heck of a lot more fruit smoothies!!

And a heck of a lot more greens!

May you choose to do something life changing in 2014. 

Love and best wishes

Jennifer x

Wishful Wednesday (and what I ate)

Welcome to Wishful Wednesday.

Happy Consumerism Day!! 

Today has become just another day in my book, although I do love a day off work for no reason!

I had a fabulous start to they day, did my mile run/jog/walk and played in the park!! The council must have repaired the swing recently, it's one of those that are round with thick rope intertwined and you can lie on it...so that is what I did. I put my head back and listened to they sound of the birds. It was just so peaceful.

I prepared my meal a few hours beforehand and made some pomegranate juice. My day has been 100% raw vegan, high carb and low fat.

Chef Jen

Sharon fruit, cinnamon and mango soup

Banana, date and cinnamon cake

Pomegranate juice

The table...I would love it if my mum would one day embrace my lifestyle...

The mango probably was not the best idea, but I still devoured it

Now this was amazing and I could live off it!!

Feeling good after this meal, no sluggish feeling, totally satiated. I love cinnamon because it gives everything a festive taste!

When I felt peckish I chomped on a cherimoya and then I prepared a butternut squash curry with 3 types of rice.

Parsnip, purple carrot and normal carrot rice topped with curry

That was so flavourful! 

A very low fat day for me!!

High in vitamins and minerals though ;)

Here's a selfie of me in my new jumper

Overall, I have had a really good day, although at one point I thought I would be alone all day...luckily it didn't happen and I spent a few hours with my mum.

So, what do I wish for today?

I wish that we stop treating 25th December as a day to over indulge with food and drink, create personal debt and be greedy. 

If you want to live a healthy life with a healthy body, want to be slim, athletic and feel the best you have ever felt (or any of the above) then for a belated present to yourself you should buy 80/10/10 it is the best diet plan you will ever read as it makes so much sense. Even if you are reading this and thinking you like the taste of meat, well a lot of plant based people say they did not give it up because of ethical reasons, they gave it up because it is not good for the body.

Also, if you only have pennies left in your pocket after today then you may want to consider the idea that it is the thought that counts. I personally would rather receive something hand made and personalised that did not cost a lot, as opposed to a really expensive present. When you step away and look at the bigger picture you see everything in a totally different perspective. I see so much greed, selfishness and denial. The denial is just incredible. Our society has just grown into something so scary in terms of consumerism, "less is more" is definitely seen as "less is a bore" nowadays. This is probably one of the reasons why I do not think I could ever raise a child in England.

I am going to wrap up my rant wishes by saying this, consider what you are doing to the environment. We may live in a good place right now, but what sort of environment are we leaving for the future generations?

I hope you enjoy the rest of this festive period and you stop eating and drinking before you reach your limit. 

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

It's Tasty Tuesday!

Today I started my 9 day break off work and it felt good. I have been needing a long period off work to get my mental focus back on my goals for next year. Instead of getting up at 5.30am I got up at 6.15am and did my mile. I treated most of the morning as a work day and studied TEFL for a few hours. I went to the shop at 3pm and it was surprisingly empty. I was served at an empty checkout! All in all, today has been a great day.

I feasted on a baby watermelon (I should have took a picture as it was so cute) and sharon fruit for breakfast. Then I ate satsumas for a snack and I had banana and coconut sugar smoothie for lunch. I ate cherimoya for dinner followed by an ill wrapped nori roll with parsnips, spring onion, purple carrot and mushroom. That was then followed by spiralised cucumber, peppers, mushroom and Jen's tomato sauce. Yummy.

Here are my food stats (although I did not measure the veg, I got over 2500 on fruit alone so I am happy with these numbers)

I think it is safe to say that if I continue eating like this I will achieve the majority of vitamins and minerals that my body needs. I definitely recommend signing up at cronometer and checking your intake daily. Especially if you're still eating a standard diet. It will put into perspective your dietary needs.

Christmas day is tomorrow and I am so happy to be celebrating my first vegan Christmas and it will be raw vegan style :D

I plan to make Persimmon Pudding from Anji B at Happy Healthy Vegan (I'm treating it more like a soup! I also don't have vanilla and I won't be making the cashew nut frosting) and I may add cubes of mango to give it a chunky effect

For dessert I think I will make a banana, date and cinnamon cake, Freelee style (without the apple, although I will decide tomorrow) 

If I can give you one piece of advice it is this, DO NOT allow yourself to over indulge because "it is Christmas", STOP yourself from eating high fat, stodgy, alcoholic foods and drinks if you are aiming for a healthy life. The "diet" does not start next week, it starts from your next bite. You are what you eat and you wear what you eat for years, so bear that in mind next time you look in the mirror and "wish" you looked different.

What would your 1 year from now self say to you today? Don't get caught up in the tinsel and flashing lights. 

Enjoy Christmas, I will be posting tomorrow so I hope you come by and see what I ate and what I am wishing for!

Much love

Jennifer x

Make it Monday

Welcome to another Make it Monday

I am going to share something I attempted that was not exactly as I expected, but you should all see it because my epic fail may just be your greatest creation!

So, let me start by sharing the recipe with you (that I modified due to ingredients). It is by Loving it Raw and these raw vegan burgers look so amazing, sort of sticky like some Chinese food.

Well the recipe calls for beetroot and although I went to a massive superstore, two smaller supermarkets and my local farm shop, not one establishment had fresh beetroot so I used parsnip instead to give it a festive edge.

Here's my version

I think perhaps there was too much grated carrot and not enough sauce. They just fell apart so easily on the fork, although in hindsight a tightly wrapped lettuce leaf may have worked well.

I probably won't try these again for a while unless I get a craving and the shops get some fresh beetroot. If you attempt this, please let me know!

Much love

Jennifer x

Forgetful Friday

Hello all, it was supposed to be Fun but it was Forgetful Friday instead.

Although that is not true, I did not forget to do my blog and it was fun for most part. During the course of the day I wondered when I'd get an opportunity to do it as I gave myself too much to do, which resulted in a very bad headache, leading to migraine.

The problem was that I under ate at lunch and that really did me in, especially as I went to the gym and had to rush after that to make sure I was not late for my plans that evening.

So, what I did last night was head to The Coven in Wigan and had a 3 course raw meal. 

The wonderful menu

For starters the soup was not as stated, it was tomato and basil instead but it was super delicious. For the main, I was curious how the chipolatas would look and taste...the verdict...really good! But for me I think the pudding had to be the best. I have always hated Christmas Pudding, but wow it was so tasty (although at this point the migraine had kicked in hard so I took most of it home and ate it this morning). Delicious! Such a cute place to go and the dinner ware (plates, cups, etc) are just my taste, I love it.

Main course - Chipolatas & Cranberry Sauce with Warm Kale Salad and Parsnip Rice

I am looking forward to the Raw Feast in spring time. If anyone is interested (I know it's a long way off) let me know as it would be fun to get a bunch of people together to go.

Also, at work my colleague said he was going to wear a Christmas jumper and said I should wear one too, so I dug out my Christmas T-shirt (as I do not have a jumper) and this is me yesterday morning with breakfast

Banana, date and mango smoothie :)

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

Welcome to Tasty Tuesday!

I was craving pizza this weekend, thinking that I would need a dehydrator to make it truly satisfying I felt like I would probably never have it. Having watched numerous raw food videos that do not require a dehydrator I knew I could do it, after all I am Miss throw-it-together-and-make-something-amazing ;)

So here is my raw vegan pizza recipe. No photos of the process but it's pretty easy (it is me who made it, I do not make complicated things!)

First one - was delicious!

Ingredients and steps

Pizza base

• Courgettes
• OR shop bought raw crackits
• OR find a recipe and dehydrate your own bases

Slice down the middle of a courgette, then use a mandolin to create thin slices. You will probably have to double or triple layer them if the layers are very thin. The other way is to very carefully slice the courgette with a knife, but the mandolin and using 2 or 3 layers is best...

Tomato sauce

• 2-4 spring onions
• Celery - I used about 1/4 of a stem just because I am not overly fond of it
• 6-8 tomatoes
• Basil

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend away!

Strain excess juice with a sieve.

"Cheese" - it does not taste like cheese, but it is creamy and better than cheese

• Half or even less avocado
• Some courgette
• Splash of water

Place ingredients into a blender and blend until creamy. Add more water to make it more runny if necessary.

Toppings

• Whatever you want!

I used mushrooms, okra, cherry tomatoes and cress. 

To put it all together, start with the tomato sauce, then your toppings and finally add the "cheese". Hold with both hands and get it in your mouth ASAP else it will fall back onto your plate :)

I made 5 pizzas with a courgette base and 1 with a raw crackit - the courgette bases were the best!

Enjoy making these, you'll be making them again I am sure because they were delicious!

Much love

Jennifer x