Tag Archives: healthy diet

Delicious Raw Food Falafel with Creamy Tahini Sauce

25 May 2014

9 Comments

As many of you know, every week we like to change some of our meals with vegan meals, and in particular, we love those vegan meals that are fresh delicious Raw Food meals.

The other night we had Raw Food Tacos and they were wildly good – and tonight we had Raw Food Falafel.

I love middle eastern food and falafel is one of my all time favourites – so I decided I wanted to create a Raw Food version of this wonderful dish  – it turned out to be equally delicious. I love how I feel after eating Raw – I feel  energized and light, full of energy.

Every bite nourishes the body.

Raw Food Falafel

Raw Food Falafel

Here’s the recipe

Raw Food Falafel with Creamy Tahini 

This recipe makes 14 – 16 falafel

2 cups of walnuts

2 big brown mushrooms

1 celery stalk

1 glove of garlic

A little piece of red onion

1/4 red pepper

1 bunch of fresh cilantro

1  teaspoon ground cumin

3 tbs Braggs

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

You also need – sesame seeds to roll the falafel in

Diced tomatoes, cucumber and red onions as an accompaniment and

radicchio lettuce – as your “pita”.

Put the ingredients for the falafel into the blender and blend until smooth – leave in the fridge for 1/2 – 1 hrs, to make them  easier to work with – then form them into little round balls and roll them in the raw sesame seeds.

Falafel in process

Falafel in process

 

Falafel

Falafel

Walnuts

Walnuts

Creamy Tahini 

Creamy tahini

Creamy tahini

 

For the dressing:

3 small tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

4 heaped tablespoons of tahini

1 clove of garlic

2 teaspoons of agave sirup/maple sirup

4 teaspoons  tamari

8 tablespoons of olive oil

1/3 cup water

a good squeeze of lemon

sea salt

Put everything into the blender and blend it into a creamy tasty dressing.

Serve the falafel on a crisp red radicchio leaf, put some mixed leafy greens on top and add a good scoop of creamy tahini sauce. Top this with diced cucumber, tomatoes, red onion and fresh cilantro…. and Enjoy!

Served perhaps with a glass of wine

Served perhaps with a glass of wine?

 

On another note –

Many many weeks have gone by without my writing a single blog post…. so what happened?

I had surgery while I was in DK – hysterectomy – all went well, no cancer, a huge relief, and goodbye to the pain that has been with me for many, many months.

Recovery has been fast – incredibly fast, just 2 weeks after surgery I was biking through the forest, and now only 6 weeks later I am out running!

I am grateful!

I was privileged and happy to be in Denmark while having my surgery – surrounded by family and wonderful friends who spoiled me rotten! Taking turns to look after me!

Thank you for all your kind comments and emails asking about my health and well-being – I feel very lucky to have so many amazing people in my life – my virtual friends as well as personal ones!

Thank you!

Raw Aubergine Lasagne with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Creamy Béchamel

19 February 2014

13 Comments

One of the things that continuously surprises people, is how good healthy food tastes!

I hear it again and again – wow, this is so good!

I mean, healthy food really tastes so good that I actually prefer it to more traditional recipes! In fact, so good, I often choose it over anything else.

And by healthy food, I’m not referring to low-fat, low sugar, low taste, low life….. no life……Dietary restrictions are not for me –  I believe that it’s really more about balance!.

There are easy ways to get going: For example, try shifting the balance on your plate to mostly plants, or eating plant-based one meal a week or even an all day plants diet. Even just exchanging some meals every now and then with plant-based foods. Plant-based food nourishes the body, feeds it what is really needed, rather than just filling it up. This will make a huge difference to your body balance and add tremendous benefits to your health and overall well-being.

By eating plant-based you:

  • keep yourself nourished
  • keep your cholesterol levels down
  • lose weight and maintain your ideal weight
  • feel content
  • stop unhealthy cravings

Raw Aubergine lasagne with fresh tomato sauce and creamy béchamel 

Eggplant Lasagne

Eggplant Lasagne

The “lasagne” sheets/pasta is aubergine in this case, but it could as well be thin slices of zucchini,  sliced the long way, left to marinade for about 15min, with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon….

Aubergine

Aubergine

Tomatoes

Tomatoes

Fresh Tomato Sauce

200g fresh organic tomatoes

4 whole sundried tomatoes

Fresh Basil

Fresh Oregano

A little red chili pepper

Sea salt

A clove of garlic

A small piece of shallot onion, maybe 1/4 of a whole

Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Put everything in the blender and blend into a sauce. Put it in a bowl and set aside while you make the creamy béchamel…

Creamy Bechamel

Creamy Bechamel

 Creamy Bechamel

1 cup of raw Cashew nuts

1/2 cup of avocado oil

Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup of water

Soak the cashews – I soak them overnight to make them really soft and easy to blend. Put the cashews, water, avocado oil, lemon juice, nutmeg and sea salt in the blender and blend into a creamy sauce.

Fresh Basil

Fresh Basil

Now layer the lasagne – it’s best to do this right before it’s served, minutes before eating.

Start with slices of marinated aubergine – then add micro greens, slices of avocado, some fresh tomato sauce, then another slice of aubergine, top generously with the creamy béchamel and a sprig of fresh basil.

Micro greens

Micro greens

Avocado

Avocado

Enjoy

Enjoy

This is the perfect lunch – or dinner served with a slice of freshly baked rosemary foccasccia – also perfect with a piece of fish, chicken or meat – and a glass of wine.

“You know, all that really matters is that the people you love are happy and healthy. Everything else is just sprinkles on the sundae” – Paul Walker

Celery steak topped with garlic fried mushrooms and served on a tarragon tomato sauce

24 November 2012

18 Comments

I am always trying to create something delicious, something completely scrumptious, that will satisfy my hunger, as well as my very spoiled taste buds.

For those of you who don’t know me, I now have normal cholesterol levels and I no longer depend on medication!

I lowered my cholesterol by exchanging some of my meals with plant-based foods and exercising.

I don’t diet, I don’t restrict myself. I eat anything and everything I want to, but I make sure, that I exercise and that 80% of whatever I eat, is plant-based.

This is one of the plant-based meals we had this week.

Celery steak topped with garlic fried mushrooms and served on a tarragon tomato sauce

It was wildly delicious!

1 root celery

2 large baking potatoes

2 big shallot onion

1 big clove of garlic

Sea salt

pepper

olive oil

10-15 dark mushrooms

2 cloves of garlic

Peel the root celery and the potatoes, grate them and put them in a bowl. Finely chop the shallot and squeeze the garlic, add them to the bowl and mix well. Add sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Now take a portion of the mixture and with both hands squeeze all the water out while making little celery/potato “cakes”. Turn the oven on – to 350F.  In a frying pan, put in some olive oil and heat up the pan and brown the celery steaks on both sides and put them on a baking tray and place them in the hot oven to finish them of, about 30-45 min .

While they bake – rinse the mushrooms and roughly chop them. Finely chop the shallot onion. Heat the pan again adding a bit more olive oil, fry the mushrooms and when they start to brown add the chopped shallot onion and the freshly squeezed garlic.

Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper – set aside.

For the sauce

Use 3 big fresh tomatoes or a small can

1 shallot onion

1 garlic clove

a teaspoon of tarragon

Sea salt and pepper

Chop the tomatoes, chop the onion and squeeze the garlic. Add some olive oil to a saucepan, saute the onions and the garlic, add the tomatoes, add the tarragon and cook for 5 min while stirring. Put everything in the blender and blend into a smooth sauce, season with salt and pepper.

When the celery steaks are ready arrange it all on a plate and top with some fresh arugula.

Enjoy!

Immune Boosting Smoothie

25 September 2012

10 Comments

Autumn is here, the leaves are turning bright red and orange. The days are getting shorter and cooler. The air is fresh and crisp, with a beautiful smell of earth. I love this time of year!

It is one of my favorite times to go running, the woods are beautiful and the temperature is just right.

It is also time to carve pumpkins, light the candles, light a fire in the fireplace, roast chestnuts and curl up with a good book and a cup of tea.

But it is also the time of year where we are particular prone to catching colds and nasty flues. So, as a precaution it is the perfect time to boost the immune system and load up on some natural

vitamin C.

We all need a shot of energy!

Today I created this Immune Boosting Smoothie – made with buckets of natural vitamin C, citrus, kale, grapes, ginger, apples and love.

Immune – Boosting Smoothie

A generous handful of fresh kale

2 small apples

1 grapefruit

1/2 lemon

1  lime fruit

2 slices of fresh ginger

a big bunch of green grapes

1 kiwi

filtered water for the right consistency

crushed ice

Blend it all together – and enjoy an instant boost of natural vitamin C to keep those nasty colds and runny noses away!

Delicious plums – in 3 different ways

19 September 2012

16 Comments

Plums are gorgeous, don’t you think?  – I love the color and the taste of this fruit that tells me that fall is around the corner.

I went out yesterday and picked every single plum on the tree in the garden and made delicious raw jam, raw vanilla macadamia nut plum cheese cake and a cool plum almond nut milkshake.

Here are the recipes:

But before I get started I would like to thank two very special ladies! One is Somer, who just started a very cool new blog called Vedgedout – she was part of another very, very cool blog called goodcleanfood. One day I was reading a post from goodcleanfood by Somer, about making vegan cheese – I made a comment, and won a packet of Pectin!! A couple of weeks later I received a little package from Somer in the post. What a wonderful surprise!

Please check out both goodcleanfood and vedgedout – heartfelt thank you for the Pectin, Somer! I feel very spoiled!

The next heartfelt thank you, goes to another amazing woman who has transformed her life and healed herself from disease through a plant-based diet. Plant- Based Diet Adventures, thank you so much for nominating me for both the Kreativ Blogger Award and One Lovely Blog Award! Again, I feel very very spoiled, thank you!!

Also, you may like to check out plant-based diet adventures 

And now to the 3 recipes.  I’ll start with Plum Marmalade

Plum Marmalade

4 cups of plums

1 pk of Pectin

3/4 cup raw sugar or 1/2 cup of honey

Juice of 2 lemons

Crush the plums in the food processor. Mix well with sugar/honey and lemon juice. The package of Pectin contains 2 packages, one with pectin and another with calcium. Dissolve the content of calcium in one cup of water. Add 4 teaspoons of pectin to the plums, sugar and lemon juice and process for a couple of minutes till the pectin is dissolved. The recipe says add 4-12 teaspoons of calcium water while running the processor, I added 8 teaspoons, one at the time, till the marmalade thickened.

Enjoy – I enjoyed a homemade cracker with plum marmalade and a cup of tea!

I now have one jar in fridge – and I doubt if it will last long, the rest went in the freezer and will not be taken out until a very grey , rainy and cold winter day.

Cool Plum Almond Milkshake

The perfect after school snack

1 cup of crushed plums

Juice of one lemon

3 dates

1/2 cup of almonds

2 cups of water

crushed ice

Add everything to the blender and blend into a smooth cool and lovely milkshake. (If you do not have a high speed blender, soak the almonds and the dates for a couple of hours to soften them)

And now to the Vanilla Plum Macadamia Cheesecake a la raw food, so no eggs, no sugar, no butter, no cream cheese – still good? Oh yes and sinless!

Vanilla Plum Cheesecake

For the base:

1 cup of raw almonds

The grated rind of one lemon

2 tablespoons of agave sirup

6 dates

pinch of sea salt

In the processor blend all the ingredients well. Add into small pie forms and press the crust together. Leave them in the freezer while you make the “cheese” filling.

Filling

one cup of macadamia nuts

one vanilla bean

one big scoop of coconut butter

4 spoons of agave sirup

pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup water

Soak the macadamia nuts to make them soft – add them to the blender along with the vanilla bean, the coconut butter, the agave, the pinch of salt and the water – blend into a creamy and delicious “cheesecake” filling. Add on top of the crust and put them back in the freezer till you need them. Then take them out 5 min before you serve them and arrange a big spoonful of the plum marmalade on top and enjoy!

Lima beans with garlic, sunripe tomatoes, chili and zucchini

17 September 2012

23 Comments

The perfect mix –  sun ripe organic tomatoes, fresh zucchini, garlic and chili – and Lima beans. An easy dish enjoyed on its own or as a perfect companion to fish, chicken, etc.

Lima beans with garlic, sun-ripe tomatoes, chili and zucchini

Prepare the beans

200 g Lima beans

a sprig of fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

sea salt

Rinse well in cold water. Add beans to a big pot of cold water, bring to the boil, drain and rinse in cold water. Do the same 3 times before finally boiling in water added salt, fresh thyme and a couple of bay leaves. Cook till tender – cool.

and then the zucchini, garlic, tomato and chili

2 small zucchini

3 ripe tomatoes

3 shallots

2 cloves of garlic

fresh red chili or dried

Olive oil

Slice the zucchini, finely chop the tomatoes, the garlic and the shallots. In a frying pan, fry the zucchini till golden, add the garlic and shallots. Continue cooking until the shallots and garlic are soft. Add the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes while mixing and stirring. Add the cooked Lima beans and season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Add chilli to taste. Serve hot and enjoy on its own or as the perfect accompany to fish or chicken.

Kale, beet salad with peaches, cranberries, creamy goat cheese and orange, honey dressing

4 September 2012

18 Comments

September is one of my favorite months. It’s the month where we bask in the lasts days of summer, dwell on them like we trying to make them last forever, soaking up the sunshine, treasuring the fruits and berries. I really don’t want it to end – on the other hand what is better than a crisp, fresh autumn day with a clear blue sky and the trees turning orange?

This salad is a real September treat and it is easy to make. It tastes wonderful and is full of intense flavor combinations – sweet, salty, sour and zesty. Make sure you eat it wearing a big bib or even better your bathing suit – the juices go everywhere!

Kale,beet salad with peaches, cranberries, creamy goats cheese and orange, honey dressing

A big bunch of red kale

one bunch of beets – 5-6 beets ( keep the tops and use them later for juicing or in smoothies)

one handful of pumpkin seeds

goat cheese

one handful of dried cranberries

olive oil

one peach

dressing

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

juice of one orange

2 tbsp honey

sea salt

1 clove of garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

Wash and rinse the kale, remove the stems and cut the kale finely. Add it in to a bowl and drizzle a bit of olive oil on top, and then “massage” the kale to tenderise it. Peel the beets and either grate them or run them through the food processor. Add to the kale. Add a handful of dried cranberries  and a handful of pumpkin seeds.

In a small bowl add the balsamic vinegar, the orange juice, olive oil, honey, sea salt and freshly squeezed garlic. Mix it all well and add it to the salad, mixing well. Arrange the salad in a dish or on plates, Cut slices of peach and arrange it on top of the salad, add a bit of crumbled creamy goats cheese on the top and a few more pumpkin seeds.

Enjoy!

This salad can of course be eaten without the goats cheese for a vegan version, like this.

Become an active participant in fighting cancer and other diseases in your body

20 August 2012

16 Comments

Millions are diagnosed with cancer all over the world, every year. We all know people with cancer, we all know people who have died of cancer. Many of us know people with cancer in our immediate family. Some of us even have personal experience with cancer, or maybe even you are fighting the disease right now.

Cancer is everywhere.

“You have cancer”  must be THE most frightening diagnosis the doctor could ever give us. Most of us are rightfully terrified of cancer.

This past year, I have heard of 7 cases in my family and close circle of friends, 7 cases! And more examples come up as I write this post.Even as a young girl I had a boy friend who died of cancer. I cry every time I hear of someone dying of cancer and I ask myself, why? Why is it that so many people get sick with cancer, nowadays?

Is there anything we can do to actively fight and prevent these diseases? I firmly believe that’s possible!

Here are 6 inspiring sources of information that can help you to be an active participant in fighting cancer and other diseases.

During my own healing journey I have come across many incredible stories of people who have healed diseases naturally and it is literally fascinating!

Can we actually do something to create an environment within the body that can help prevent cancer or stop it from spreading? Is it possible to support the body to heal on its own? And hereby add a powerful supplement to what the doctors can do for us?

According to these studies – yes it is possible!

In this post I will look at some very inspiring sources of information. This is information that everyone should know about. Information to help us prevent diseases like cancer and to create the worst possible condition for cancer cells in the body to spread. It is information that brings hope – that we can assist our bodies in healing and be an active participant, by giving it what it needs to fight disease and heal.

  • The book The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, PhD and Thomas M. Campbell , MD. This book is such an incredibly important book about the relationship between diet and disease. It is the research and story about how we can reverse diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer!! Dr Colin Campbell’s research is ground-breaking and life-saving!
    The title comes from that Dr. Campbell found in his research that certain rule areas in China, cancer is non-existent!  He obviously wanted to find out why and eventually discovered that in some areas the people ate very little or no meat and no processed food. He found that there is a direct link between animal protein and cancer. Chapter 3 in the book is called “Turning off Cancer” – the research in the book is evident. There is a connection between the food we eat and the diseases we get. It is also evident that it is possible to reverse these diseases and we can do that by taking the reins and be active participants in our own healing.
  • Kris Carr is a living testimonial of this. She was diagnosed with cancer in the liver and the lungs!  She was told, “Sorry, no cure”, and given very short time to live . Today it is 10 years since Kris was diagnosed with that incurable disease, Cancer, and she is living proof that it is possible to turn cancer off! She did turn cancer off, and is fitter than she has ever been. As a journalist diagnosed with cancer she documented her very private journey with cancer from the point that she was diagnosed and then her journey onward.  She is also the author of two wonderful New York Times Bestselling books – “Crazy Sexy Cancer” and “Crazy Sexy Diet”. She is an incredible woman, so inspiring she will knock your socks off and I highly recommend her work. She has been and continues to be my hero and my inspiration. An amazing woman!
  • Food Matters is an incredible documentary about the food we eat and the connection between diet and disease. Food Matters have made 2 very powerful documentaries, one is called “Food Matters” and the other “Hungry for Change”. I highly recommend these movies. They are mind-blowing .
  • “Forks over Knives” another incredible documentary based on the work of Dr. T. Colin Campbell’s research – another mind blowing documentary that will change not only the way you look at food but probably your life. It is a documentary that saves lives! It tells how we can reverse diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer!
  • Dr Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize in 1931 for his discovery that cancer is caused by weakened cell respiration due to lack of oxygen at a cellular level. He discovered that in the absence of oxygen, the cell reverts to a primal nutritional program and nourishes itself by converting glucose through fermentation. This creates an acidic condition in the body and the cancer cells then begin to multiply. Cancer cells are anaerobic, they cannot live in an environment rich in oxygen. When we eat plant based foods we assist our bodies to be more alkaline – also meaning more aerobic, which cancer cells cannot live in!

This is the trailer for Kris Carr’s inspiring documentary

This is the trailer for Food Matter’s

This is the trailer for Forks over Knives – a documentary that leaves you empowered, because you learn there is so much you can do to heal!

This is an inspiring YouTube about a young lady who cured herself of ovarian cancer

Links to books and relevant websites

The China Study

Kris Carr and her Crazy Sexy Cancer

Crazy Sexy diet by Kris Carr

Food Matters 

Forks over Knives

Victoria Boutenko, Green for Life

This is great news! This means we can be grateful and accept all the doctors can do to help us heal – and at the same time, take the reins and go full power into doing whatever possible, ourselves, to create the very best conditions for the body to heal, by boosting the body with nutrients, healthy plant-based alkaline foods, fresh green juices and lots of green smoothies.

Kris Carr’s books “Crazy Sexy Cancer” and “Crazy Sexy Diet” are full of tips and great advise on how to alkalize your body and boost your health, to create optimal conditions for your body to heal.

I hope this post will inspire you to take the rains and be an activist for your own health – to prevent disease, to heal and to flourish.

A straight shot of health

16 August 2012

7 Comments

One of the easiest ways to improve your health, is by drinking fresh juice!

It is delicious! One of the most satisfying drinks on a hot summers day, is an ice cold freshly squeezed green juice – I absolutely love it!

It is vibrant and full of goodness – a straight and instant shot of health.

In the green market I found these wonderfully ripe and incredibly sweet pineapples on sale, and in my garden, I have Swiss chard – yellow and red. I love the taste of fresh chard and I use it a lot. In green smoothies and in juice but also gently sauteed with fresh ginger, garlic and a dash of soy sauce. – Today I juiced it with the ripest and sweetest pineapple. No artificial sugar or colors – just pure nature. Served on ice, it is the best summer drink you can ever imagine!

Swiss chard is a great source of anti-oxidant,  vitamin C, vitamin K and a rich in omega 3. it also is a great source of minerals such as calcium and iron.

Along with the pineapple that is rich in vitamin A and C – great source of calcium and copper – this is a power drink full of goodness and great taste.

Resetting the body-clock

30 July 2012

19 Comments

A whole week on plant-based foods! Plant-wild week check it out here

  • I feel  full of energy
  • I lost 2 1/2 kg
  • my skin feels healthy
  • my eyes are clear
  • I feel in balance/content
  • my runs are easier – I run for longer without feeling the need to stop
  • cravings for unhealthy foods ceased

2 years ago I would never have believed that food matters so much! I knew that I had to eat fruits and vegetables and that it was supposed to be good for me, but I had no idea it could change my life the way it has!

For those, who are new to this blog  – I was suffering desperately from Meniere’s disease, I had terribly high cholesterol and I had put on 17 kg! I felt dreadful and did not have the will-power to do anything about it, I felt stuck!

Food changed all of that! I added green smoothies to my diet and got more energy, started to crave more green food and craved less of all the things that were not good for me. I started to run and I started to exchange some of my meals for plant-based meals. Sometimes, I would do whole days on plant-based foods – eventually eating only plant-based food from Monday to Friday, every now and then. I changed the balance of what I ate, so that I had much more fruits and vegetables, nuts, and grains, than meat and dairy. Nourishing and feeding my body – rather than filling myself up. This past week I tried an only-plant-based week and it was great.

Eating more plant-based has been like resetting my clock. Now I don’t feel hungry all the time, I feel nourished and satisfied. I no longer feel the need to fill my plate 3 times, at every meal.

I used to live to eat and I still do, but not in the same way!

I am mostly plant-based and I enjoy adding delicious fish or meat to my meals, but not with every meal. I also enjoy creme brulee and fabulous cheeses, but not with every meal.

I believe that the high cholesterol, Meniere’s disease and the 17 kg over-weight, was my body’s way of “telling” me, there was an imbalance  – something needed to change.

Today my Meniere’s disease is gone, my cholesterol is normal without medication,  I have lost 19 kg, I feel better and fitter than ever before!

This week has been like giving my body a holiday, spoiling it with foods that supports it, feeds it, and nourishes every cell.

My family supported me all the way – not everyone was plant-based all week, but I am proud of them for what they did! Loving that they tried, exchanging the majority of their meals with plant-based foods and for being so open to try. Changes do not happen over night – it happens by taking one healthy step at a time.