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

Tasty Tuesday

I have been enjoying my breakfast smoothies recently because they've been berry delicious :-) I tend to have 1.2kg bananas and then a handful of mixed berries. The colour is a really deep pink and the taste is sweet, for a small amount of berries it doesn't taste like bananas at all.

I've been having at least 5 different fruits a day too. During September/October I had been on banana island. I had bananas for breakfast, lunch and dinner, followed by a salad or sometimes replacing bananas for dinner with a cooked meal. I think the lack of variety for a long period did not help me in some ways (lack of enthusiasm for eating only bananas), but since buying more fruit varieties I have been feeling excited about eating.

I started having B12 shots in October and then I got an outbreak of spots on my face, chest and back. Not sure what caused it, but the spots are still around. One good thing I have noticed a lot more recently is that my skin feels silkier than normal and although I have spots on my face, it looks healthy.

Bananas are great, hands down, but I think sometimes you can exhaust a particular food. Now I really appreciate my banana smoothies and I look forward to getting up for one after my morning jog.

I haven't taken a recent photo, but I shall update the post tomorrow.

Fruit it up everyday!

Much love

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

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

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

Tasty Tuesday

Welcome to Tasty Tuesday

Today I'll talk about bananas.

The photo shows ripe bananas, they're spotty, soft and smell sweet. Do not eat them any other way else you'll have problems. Bananas like this clear you out not bung you up ;-) These are so tasty you won't want anything else!

Eat bananas and feel the joys. Uplift your spirit and feel at one with nature (preferably eating outside!) 

 Much love 

 Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

Welcome to Tasty Tuesday!

The only salt you should have is from your tears, from crying when those closest to you do not understand...

Today I am dedicating this post to foods that lower your blood pressure. It is a common fact that a low fat vegetarian diet is one of the best for lowering blood pressure and also if you did not know that eating a lot of fruits and vegetables was important, well you know now. It is essential to a healthy life as well as regular exercise, so put down that innocent animal and get your fruit and veg on!!!!!!!!! (I am trying to stop swearing but I would have loved to have used the F word here.)

So, "what fruits and vegetables can lower your blood pressure?" I hear you ask...

(images taken off a Google image search)

Citrus

Bananas - ripe spotty ones at that!

Broccoli

Celery

Onions

These are just a few and so easy to incorporate into daily meals. A full list can be found here. Cut out the processed meats, dairy and meals and start making good food like previous generations used to! There is no excuse. Stop being a lazy fu person and go get some fruits and vegetables.

Here is a simple plant based recipe for you to try courtesy of Plant-Based Cooking 

Roasted potato and green bean salad

If you have a hard time understanding why it is better for your health to go plant-based and if you are reading this right now, you have your fingertips on the most powerful piece of modern technology...Google it and see why it is the best choice to make. Oh and I do not accept lame excuses like money being an issue... Talk to me, message me, do anything I want to help!

Go and get your fruit and veg on!

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

Hello and welcome to another Tasty Tuesday.

I have a "blonde" confession to make. I thought I had grown rosemary in my garden, but upon buying prepacked herbs at the supermarket I have now discovered I grew thyme! So along with flat leaf parsley I thought was coriander I have decided that I am in fact a total gardening noob. Any recipe I said I used rosemary, well I actually used thyme ;) I am going to update my posts!

So, I did another 30 days raw (well except for nuts) and I didn't feel as good as the first time. I do not know whether it is down to weather, daylight (lack of), general motivation, or the quantities/quality of my food etc but I still aim to be raw. However, I did prepare some baked, boiled and steamed vegetables and there are no excuses for you not to try this, you'll be totally satisfied. No need for animal products, just a whole load of root veg!

Here is what I had

White potato and celeriac mash with nutritional yeast (thanks to Peter who suggested it)

Baked sweet potatoes (still in the oven at this point of the picture)

Boiled red potatoes

Asparagus

Sprouts (oh my goodness I had to have them, they're my favourite!)

Carrots

Parsnips

Mushrooms (fried in water)

It was so filling and it just feels clean even though it was cooked, it still has nothing on raw, but this is a better back up and full of nutrition.

I hope you all "go root yourself" and stay away from junk.

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

Welcome to Tasty Tuesday!

I have to thank spell-check today because my hands and my brain are not working together this evening!

Tonight's recipe is courtesy of The Rawtarian and her recipes are just fantastic, as you will see by the 4-5 star ratings!

The title of this recipe is perhaps misleading because it is completely vegan. 

Rawtarian's Raw "Salmon" Salad Pate

Check out the recipe right here.

I hope you all have a delicious vegan dinner tonight!

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

It's Tasty Tuesday and I am eating another one of my orgasmic salads!

It's crazy that it's freezing outside, but I just want to nom on a giant salad! Perhaps the heating is making me want cold food, or perhaps I am adjusting to the raw foods :D It actually snowed today!

So, on to the fabulous tasty food. This is a recipe I want to try so much, but laziness and ingredients have prevented me so far...

I present to you the fabulous Megan Elizabeth and her AMAZING raw vegan Falafel recipe. I am so jealous of the people who got to eat these at Woodstock Fruit Festival this year!

I am going to make this...one day :)

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

Tasty Tuesday

Welcome to Tasty Tuesday!

Today I simply ask that you try a new fruit or vegetable and that when you have a house party/house guests that you provide some fruit or vegetable options. 

What makes me sad is when I am invited to a house (especially with children and babies) and the food that is being served up is 

1. an animal 

2. covered in fat

3. made with lots of animal products 

4. no/very few vegetables (and zero fruit) 

5. high fat, refined sugar, animal derived desserts 

6. fizzy and caffeinated drinks

To make our meals tasty add more vegetables and definitely more fruit, especially having items we have never tried before, more often than not will surprise us!

Okra, my new favourite vegetable

Go and be healthy! NOURISH your body, give it life not a reason to shut down.

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

Welcome to Spooky Tasty Tuesday!

In case you do not already know, it is Halloween on Thursday! So, I am posting this video from Kristina for you to prepare (for any parties) in case you want to give the Trick or Treaters something healthy and fun (and better than sweets).

My body is reacting to the awful weather here by developing a sore throat. (I usually get 6+ per year, previously masked by medicine, but this one I am riding out with food, rest and water) So I am making this post quick so I can go rest in bed!

Enjoy the video, Kristina is just wonderful :)

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

Welcome to Tasty Tuesday!

As I shared a recipe yesterday, today I am going to share with you some very creative cake ideas. 

A lot of people tend to start ordering their Christmas cake around this time and I want to show you that cake doesn't have to mean fat filled, alcohol drowned, prepare for a massive bloating session. So keep an open mind, get some ideas and perhaps you can prepare yourself a fruity cake without all the crap! :)

Super fun, more of a display than a cake, I can imagine this in the Caribbean or a hot country over the Christmas period!

Looking more like Christmas (even if it was for 4th July!)

Could frost the edges in white so it looks like an igloo :)

Yummy! 

This one is the naughtiest of them all...but it looks so pretty! 

 

I hope I've made you want to go eat some fruit (with the exception of the last cake!) and perhaps make a fruit cake for an event (hint to the raw vegan groups I am in, at the next potluck I want a fruit cake!!) Now put down that bad food and fill your face with what nature allowed us to grow on trees!

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

Hello again! It is Tasty Tuesday, which means you're in for a treat.

I dedicate this post to tasty smoothies as it's what I have for breakfast everyday! They are simple to make and as long as you have ripe fruit you can make whatever you dare to experiment with!

This is my breakfast smoothie, 10-12 bananas, an entire head of romaine lettuce (and not the small ones you get from the supermarkets, I mean HUGE!) and some water. Blend it up and serve in your biggest jar

If I remember rightly, this is bananas, strawberries and water. I know summer has gone now but it would be such a perfect reminder (if you can still buy fresh strawberries) of how summer tastes! (I have some frozen)

Now this one is about 5 bananas and 4-5 sharon fruit, with water. I wouldn't exactly write home about it, but it's a great way to increase your iron intake! I much prefer to eat sharon fruit whole but these were a little too far gone for eating so I blended them!

I guess it's a juice more than a smoothie, but this is watermelon juice mmmm...
p.s. it is a jar not a vase :P

This is my usual breakfast smoothie (banana and lettuce) but I added spirulina. I shall not do that again! In fact I do not want my spirulina so message me if you're interested.

My drinks are so colourful, why would you want anything else?! Fuel your body with fruit sugars and it will reward you.

So...for those of you who do not know me, I am "trying" to live a 100% raw vegan lifestyle. Now it has many ups and downs mainly because of having to unlearn to like foods I have eaten for over 20 years (I am 100% vegan so that was probably the biggest challenge for me, especially as I "loved" lots of dairy). 

Once we start eating fruit for breakfast and then lunch and snacks in between meals we do not crave biscuits, cakes, sweets, etc because we are being satisfied from the fruit. I was a chocoholic, ate whole packets of biscuits and even ate 3 cakes in a day regularly in my previous jobs, so for those who do that right now there is hope and you can stop! 

I mainly struggle with cooked foods because when it is cold I have always had hot food. It's just something I am trying to unlearn and relearn. This lifestyle is all about learning and it is amazing, especially when you have great people around you (join facebook groups, meetup pages, etc).

Well I am not a tattoo kind of gal, but I thought maybe if I had one on my hand I would reconsider what I put in my mouth to eat... so here's my vision..

What are your thoughts? Will you try a smoothie if you haven't already? Will you experiment more with the fruit you use? Do you like my tattoo idea? Am I actually influencing you to eat more fruit and veg?!

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

It's Tasty Tuesday, so are you ready for some grub?

I am on and off raw food due to self sabotage usually by means of not keeping a cupboard full of ripe fruit or by convincing myself that I should eat something cooked if it is too cold, so instead of going for vegan junk food like hummus, pizzas, etc here is a video that shows the best options for high carb low fat meals.

It is presented by Freelee the banana girl and stars Princess Raw Fruits Neet. Two amazing women on one amazing video.

Ultimately I am aiming for 100% raw but sometimes we all just need a fall back and this is it.

Now go to the kitchen and make some high carb low fat tasty VEGAN food :) protect the animals and have regular poos!

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

Welcome to Tasty Tuesday!

You do not have to wait any longer, today I will be sharing my Raw Vegan Lasagne! I am waiting for a decent photo editor, so my photos look very noob-like :P

For those who do not know about the Raw Vegan lifestyle it is basically the consumption of fresh fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, etc (preferably organic) that have not been cooked above 48 degrees Celsius. Ideally people on this lifestyle are aiming for 100% raw, but it is very common that people are raw for breakfast and lunch but eat a cooked vegan dinner. Once you embrace this lifestyle you will reap the benefits such as more energy, feeling lighter during exercise, having more endurance and have glowing skin! 

So, this raw vegan lasagne is uncooked, cold/room temperature and packed with a whole lot of love, because remember "fruit and veggies love you back"! Next time you pick something up that is processed, high in fat or from a "fast food" shop say to yourself that you may love what you're about to eat, but it definitely does not love you back.

I think this will work best if I list the ingredients, tools and instructions for each section and at the end do one big instruction for putting it together. Oh and this serves one very greedy, hungry belly.

Ingredients/Tools/Instructions

Pasta sheets

• 3 courgettes/zucchinis (the only ingredient I measured haha)
• Mandolin slicer
• Peeler
• Knife

This is completely optional, but I peeled the courgettes because they were not the freshest! Once peeled slice in half length ways and very carefully use the mandolin slicer. If you do not own one then you could very very carefully slice the courgette thinly with a knife but please be very careful!!!

Place the slices to one side and keep the left over bits that are too thin to use as a layer.

Sliced courgette

Tomato sauce

• A lot of tomatoes - I filled up the food processor with 2/3rds tomatoes
• Sun dried tomatoes - preferably soaked (the longer the better)
• Spring onion - I like this a lot, so I used 5 stems! I'd say 2 or 3 are enough
• Fresh basil - put as much or as little in as you with but I used about 25-30 leaves
• Fresh rosemary - same as basil, use as much or as little but I used 3 long sprigs
• Walnuts - I used about 5 just because I had them to hand
• Food processor/blender
• Sieve
• Bowl
• Chopping board
• Knife

Wash your ingredients then if you are using large tomatoes chop them up a bit as well as the spring onion, then add everything into the blender and blend away. It's up to you whether you want it chunky or smooth. My blender does not get anything smooth so I had chunky bits which add texture! Place the sieve over the bowl and drain the excess liquid from this mixture.

Put to one side.

Sauce blended - tomatoes blend down to next to nothing!

Sieve away - if you like it slightly runny add some juice back in

Creamy sauce

• Half an avocado
• Spring onion
• Left over courgette
• Basil (optional) - about 5-10 leaves 
• Rosemary (optional) - 1 sprig
• Blender
• Knife

If you are just making this for one person cut up half an avocado, mine was about 64g, which is about 9.5g fat.

Place all of the ingredients into the blender (that you will have to wash!) and blend until it is smooth and creamy. You may need a little bit of water if you want it less thick but I did not add any.

Place to one side.

Putting it all together

So you should have made all of your components for this tasty meal, now all you need is one deep dish.

I started by putting 2 layers of pasta on the bottom and then the tomato sauce followed by another layer of pasta and then the creamy sauce, tomato sauce, pasta, creamy sauce. I got about 2 layers in my dish because it was a beast of a dish so perhaps if you have a thinner but equally deep dish you'd get more layers. Have fun with it, I certainly did. I am a naughty chef because I was eating as I was going!

Bottom two layers

Added tomato sauce and another layer of pasta before the creamy sauce

Looking like it came straight out of the oven!

Who needs a separate plate when it's all for ME!!! :D

If you want me to be more specific I suppose I could make it again :P but for me, making dishes is one big experiment, which is why I am very loose with measurements because we all have different tastes and as much as I love basil that I could use almost half the plant you may only want 5 leaves.

I hope you do make this and do enjoy it. I mainly got inspiration from Kristina, but if you google "raw vegan lasagne" you'll find soooooooooooo many recipes.

Tomorrow is Wishful Wednesday and I'll probably be wishing for this meal ;)

Much love

Jennifer x