The Power of Raw

7 July 2014

Summertime – don’t you love it? And summertime is the perfect time to spoil your body, recharge the old batteries and rejuvenate yourself!

I find nothing quite as powerful as a couple of days on raw food, plant-based, entirely raw dishes, full of all the goodness you need to tune yourself back into vibrant.

Here is how it goes – for breakfast how about some Creamy Raw Food Oatmeal

Raw food musli

Or delicious Raw Food “yoghurt” with mango and raspberry coulis

Or Raw Food Granola made from fresh sprouts and almond creme…

Raw food Breakfast

For lunch how about Raw Food Sushi served with ginger, garlic sauce.

Ready to enjoy

or Raw Food Pasta with fresh tomato sauce and capers….

Raw Food Fettuccine

or a delicious salad with pomegranate, apples and pineapple

Salad with pomegranate and apple

or Raw Food Veggie Chili with Cashew “Cheese”

And lots of green juice

And green smoothies during the day

For dinner Raw Food Curry served with Parsnip “Rice”

1 red pepper

1 orange pepper

1 zucchini

5 big brown mushrooms

4 spring onions

Wash and finely chop everything – make the curry sauce

Curry Sauce

2 big scoops tablespoons of cashew butter

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh ginger

4 dried lime leaves or 2 fresh

1 cup of water

2 tablespoon of soya sauce

1 tablespoon sweet chill sauce

juice and rind of 1 lime fruit

1 teaspoon of Thai red curry paste

Put it all in the blender and blend into a delicious creamy curry sauce.

Raw Food Curry Sauce

Parsnip “rice”

Peel 2 parsnips and cut them into smaller pieces – put them in the blender and blend them till they look rice- alike – squeeze a little fresh lemon juice on and a little sea salt.

Serve on a plate with the chopped vegetables – pour over the curry sauce and enjoy!

Raw Food Curry with Parsnip “Rice”

” What you find at the end of your fork is more powerful than anything you’ll find at the bottom of a pill bottle” – Dr. Mark Hyman

Fresh and Crispy Nori Rolls with Ginger & Garlic Sauce

20 January 2014

12 Comments

These little Nori rolls are so easy to make and they are stuffed full of goodness!

Whether you want to: lose weight, lower your cholesterol, become more healthy, …… simply adding more green food into your diet, will bring on amazing results …

Rather than restricting yourself, and cutting out certain foods, or going on a diet – you can add more plant-based foods that feed and nourish you. Thus, there will be less space for food that is not so healthy, and more room for the food that is good for you.

It’s simple, it’s easy and it can make a huge positive change to your health.

I hope you enjoy them! They taste just scrumptious!

Crispy Nori Rolls

Fresh and Crispy Nori Rolls with Ginger Garlic dipping Sauce

Roasted seaweed sheets

Bean sprouts

Broccoli sprouts

fresh spinach leaves

Carrots strips

Cucumber strips

Red pepper strips

Spring onions

Celery strips

On the seaweed sheet you add everything – just like this …

Nori Roll in preparation

Then you roll gently, but tightly (this can be difficult, but don’t worry they taste just as good). Serve them on a plate with the Ginger Garlic Sauce

Ready to enjoy

Ginger Garlic Dipping Sauce

5 tablespoons of good soya sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove of freshly squeezed garlic

A little freshly grated ginger

A little wasabi

Mix it all together.

Ginger garlic sauce

Nori rolls with ginger garlic sauce served with a big glass of green smoothie.

Enjoy!

Green lunch

Love as a daily supplement

4 December 2012

15 Comments

I just thought this was wonderful………

Love as a daily supplement!

Seriously, if we want to loose weight and keep it off, we must look beyond what we put on the plate and how much we exercise. This parts are important, of course, but there is more to it than that.

A healthy bodily balance can only be kept if we also are aware of our emotions! Feelings are just as important, if not more so, than what we put on our plate and how much we exercise. And when it comes to the most difficult part: keeping the weight off – emotions, and how we feel about ourselves, is paramount. We are much more likely to make healthy choices when we listen to our body’s signals and it’s needs, and we need to include the emotional needs as well.

In my morning paper, the Danish Politiken, I found a great article that supports my thoughts! The title made me smile: “She recommends love as a daily supplement” – I topped up my tea and sat down to enjoy the article.

Professor Berit Lillienthal Heitmann from Institute of Preventive Medicine in Copenhagen ( Center for Sygdom og Samfund ) and an honorable professor at University of Sidney, has been researching obesity for over 25 years. She is convinced that we will never find a solution to why we become overweight and obese, if we only look at the dinner plate and at how much we exercise.

Prof. Heitmann considers stress, lack of nurturing in childhood and bad sleep/sleep apnea, etc. as important factors affecting our ability to succeed in loosing weight and keeping it off.

She says that we can all loose weight by eating less and by exercising, the trick is to keep it off.

Her research has shown that a calorie is not just a calorie. In a study where she looked at nurses in Denmark, she found that those nurses who felt pressured and stressed, put on more weight than those colleagues who were not stressed, when eating the same amount of calories.

She also did a study with a rare group – identical twins, where one of the twin was overweight and the other was not. What she found in this group was that the one twin, who was overweight had often felt neglected as a child and had missed contact with the mother.

Something points to the fact that nurturing and compassion plays an important role. Berit Lillienthal Heitmann keeps doing research in this field and I will be following her closely, because I think she is on to something really important.

Love as a daily supplement

I wholeheartedly recommend love as a daily supplement too and preferably high doses of it!

“Don’t forget to love yourself” Søren Kirkegaard (Danish philosopher, 1813 – 1855)

Self-compassion

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.

Plant-wild week-day 7

29 July 2012

3 Comments

What is better than a weekend in the summertime – they fit perfectly. Time to relax and rejuvenate. Talking about feeling rejuvenated – that is exactly how I feel after a week on plant food!

We are taking it slow this morning, sleeping in and then a good run. Later, I potted about in the kitchen preparing brunch, while the rest of the house slowly got going.

Today’s brunch is inspired by one that I had in one of my favorite restaurants in Vancouver, Cafe Medina. I love having brunch there, while slow jazz fills the room and sunshine beams through the windows. Service is fabulous and the food is divine!!

They do a great brunch and one of them is a plate of Baba Ganoush, Tabouli and tzatziki – served with little crisp breads. I love this combination!

So, for brunch this morning in the garden with the family under the parasol, we enjoyed Baba Ganoush, Tabouli, fennel marinated cucumber and a little hot pomme rosti with mushrooms and thyme.

Brunch

Baba Ganoush, tabouli, fennel marinated cucumber salad served with a little hot pomme rosti with mushrooms and thyme

Baba Ganoush:

2 medium-sized eggplants

2 tablespoons of tahini

lemon juice

sea salt

1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin

2 tablespoons olive oil

Bake the eggplants in the oven till they are completely soft – leave them to cool. When they are cool cut them in half and scrape out the soft middle and put it in the blender. Add tahini, olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, sea salt and cumin. Blend into smooth consistency. Keep it cool while preparing the other dishes.

Pomme Rosti with mushrooms and Thyme:

5 medium size potatoes – I used yellow potatoes

15 brown mushrooms

one onion

fresh thyme

salt and pepper

Clean and chop the mushrooms. Fry them until they are golden brown, season with salt and pepper. Put them in a bowl and then chop the onions and fry them till they are slightly brown, season with salt and pepper.

Peel the potatoes and grate them roughly – add the grated potatoes to the bowl of onions and fried mushrooms – mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper then add some finely chopped fresh thyme.

Mix it all really well – now take a handful of the wet mixture and squeeze out water forming a little “cake” – you have to squeeze hard, but gently while you are forming the potato rosti. Put them carefully on a board – when you have formed all the rosti – heat the frying pan with olive oil and brown them gently on either side. They are quite fragile while raw so be gentle with them. Put them in a baking tray and finish them off in the oven at 350F for about 45min -1 hr

Tabouli

1/2 cup of cooked bulgur

4 tomatoes

1/2 red onion

one bunch of big leafed parsley

one bunch of fresh mint

freshly squeezed lemon

3 tablespoons of olive oil

salt and pepper

In a bowl mix the cooked bulgur with finely chopped tomatoes, finely chopped red onion, finely chopped parsley and mint. Mix well and pour over a marinade made from the olive oil and the lemon juice. Mix and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Fennel marinated cucumber

1/2- 1 whole cucumber

sea salt

fennel seeds

Finely dice the cucumber, add sea salt and sprinkle with a little fennel seeds – I used about 1/2 teaspoon for 1/2 cucumber

Enjoy!

A shot of greens

Delicious cool juice made from a bunch of red chard from the garden, 5 apples and 1 lemon

Dinner

This dinner is from a previous post – a raw food lasagne – It has become a favorite of ours and I think it makes a perfect end to the Plant-wild week.

Lively lovely Lasagne

I LOVE lasagne – just like Garfield! I love it!

However, this version is 100% plant based, raw and delicious – full of goodness but as it has not been cooked, the nutrients and enzymes have not been destroyed. It is so healthy you feel satisfied and totally energized after eating it – AND no greasy pans to wash afterwards!

You know when you eat regular lasagne all you want to do afterwards is get the dishwasher started and head for the couch – heavy and tired. After eating this version, you want to go and play soccer with the kids in the garden 🙂 or go for an evening run. You can really feel the difference! This has now become our favorite and we love it so much we actually prefer it over the traditional lasagne.

Now to the recipe:

The “pasta” is zucchini thinly sliced lengthwise.

The pasta sauce is made from fresh ripe tomatoes, fresh herbs and sun dried tomatoes, like this:

4 big ripe tomatoes.

6 sun dried tomatoes

A small bunch of fresh basil

1 clove of garlic

1/4 red pepper

Oregano fresh if you have it, otherwise dried

Sea salt

Freshly grounded pepper

Add it all to the blender and blend well. This sauce is so fresh and tasty that it beats any cooked tomato sauce!

“Cheese” Sauce

Soak 1 cup of raw natural cashew nuts in water for at least a couple of hours

Drain and blend it smoothe with

3/4 cup filtered water

2 table spoons of olive oil

1 table spoon nutritional yeast

1 clove of garlic

Sea salt

Marinate brown mushrooms with a couple of tablespoons Braggs and a dash of olive oil.

On top of the sliced zucchini add some fresh spinach

then mushrooms

and tomato sauce and “cheese” sauce like this

On top of this, you should add some more slices of “pasta” zucchini, a bit more spinach and slices of avocado. Finish the dish of with “cheese” sauce and tomato sauce.

ENJOY 🙂

Plant-wild week-day 5

27 July 2012

4 Comments

Wow – this is one effective diet! I wasn’t trying to loose weight, all I wanted was to boost my health – give myself a serious health kick. That has happened in a big way, but on top of it, I have lost 2kg!!!

I’m feeling great, so great, that I’m excited about continuing this plant-wild adventure another day!

Here’s today’s breakfast

Slices of fresh watermelon and a delicious fruit smoothie made from summer berries – strawberries, raspberries, almonds, ice and filtered water.

Lunch

Baked tomatoes and red pepper fattoush – one of my absolute favorites – full blown taste of summer!

6 big ripe tomatoes

4 red peppers

1/2 cucumber

fresh mint

large-leaved parsley

1/2 red onion

some black olives

olive oil

4 pita bread

Cut the tomatoes into quarters, half the peppers and take out the seeds – put them on a baking tray (on baking paper), drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt – and bake slowly in a 300C oven for about an hour – checking so see that they don’t burn. Once they are done, take them out and leave them to cool.

Cut the pita breads in half and then separate them – put them on a baking tray in an 400F oven – bake till they are slightly brown and crisp. Put aside to cool.

Cut the cucumber in half length-wise and then cut into bite sized slices. Wash and roughly chop the parsley and the fresh mint, cut the red onion in half and slice it. Remove any skin of the red peppers that is burnt. Cut the red pepper into smaller pieces. In a bowl put the cucumber, the herbs, the baked tomatoes and pepper and the olives. Mix carefully, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar,

Serve with pieces of the crispy pita bread on top – and enjoy, preferably outside in the shade with a cool drink!

Dinner

Pasta with sun dried tomatoes and olive pesto – topped with garlic, chili and herb bread crumbs and served with summer salad

Spaghetti 75 g pr person

Pesto

Big bunch of fresh basil

100g of sun dried tomatoes ( I used about half a small glass)

15 black pitted olives

1 big clove of garlic

1/2 olive oil

2 table spoons of nutritional yeast

2 table spoons of pine nuts

Add all the ingredients in to the blender and blend into a perfect pesto sauce

Bread crumbs

1 cup of bread crumbs

a bunch of basil

a bunch of fresh oregano

2 cloves of garlic

some red fresh chili ( depending on how hot you like it baby)

grated lemon peel

sea salt

I used some of the good, but now stale, bread and chopped it into tiny bread crumbs. Finely chop the herbs along with the garlic and the chili, grate some lemon peel and mix everything all together.

In a frying pan – add some olive oil and heat – add the bread crumbs, stirring and tossing all the time to prevent them from burning, fry until they are slightly golden, then add the herb mixture and mix well. Leave on the heat for another minute still mixing. Take off the heat.

Cook the pasta – detente – drain and mix with the pesto sauce, serve on big plates with the bread crumbs. Serve with a summer salad, with tomatoes, of course.

Anne Sture Tucker

Balanced Living

Tag Archives: loose weight

The Power of Raw

Fresh and Crispy Nori Rolls with Ginger & Garlic Sauce

Love as a daily supplement

Resetting the body-clock

Plant-wild week-day 7

Plant-wild week-day 5