Category Archives: Food

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Lemon Water – a must drink each morning…

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Thanks to Organic Health and Healthy Food House, we have 16 pretty awesome reasons to drink lemon water first thing in the morning. So, no more excuses.

Also – for those of you joining us on Paleo With Me August, this will be a good replacement for your morning coffee (if you can’t drink coffee without milk).

Here they are!

16 Ways in Which Lemon Water Helps Your Health

Lemon Water - the sweet light

1. Weight loss

Lemon water will help you maintain a healthy weight and regulate your blood sugar. The pectin contained in lemon water can also fight off those cravings, thus will make you eat less throughout the day.

2. Immune System

Lemon water also supports our lymphatic system as well, which works in conjunction with our immune system.

 3. Flu and Cold

Lemon enhances the immune system and has many antiviral and antibacterial effects, since it is rich in vitamin C, which makes it a superb remedy for colds and flu.

4. Acne

The consumption of lemon water in the morning will help to metabolize the acidic temperature of your body, and thus it will prevent those annoying breakouts.

5. Constipation

Drinking lemon water can prevent and get rid of constipation, for it promotes regular bowel movements. Undoubtedly, lemon water is great for your digestive health.

6. Kidney Stones

People often forget this benefit of lemon use. Lemons contain potassium which increases citrates in your urine, and in that way, it prevents the forming of oxalate, and flushes out kidney stones.

7. Gall Bladder

You can significantly reduce the pain due to gall bladder stones by drinking lemon water while you eat.

8. Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

TUMS can be substituted with lemon water.

9. Colitis

Lemon water can help to balance your pH levels, and Colitis is an imbalance of the acid/alkaline levels within the body.

10. Fibromyalgia

People dealing with exhaustion from fibromyalgia can drink lemon water in combination with yoga stretches in order to feel some improvement.

11. Joint Pain and Swelling

Lemon water helps to reduce the amounts of uric acid amounts in our joints, thus reducing inflammation. It is extremely beneficial for people with arthritis, since it reduces the pain.

12. Inflammation

Acidity is the leading cause of inflammation in tissues. Lemons possess anti-inflammatory properties so they neutralize acidity.

13. Finger Nail Health

Lemon water increases the hardness of one’s nails as well as clearing up those white spots that appear on them from time to time.

 14. Muscle Soreness

Drinking lemon water can reduce the pain in sore muscles substantially. So, after hard workout, do not forget to consume it.

15. Alcohol Cravings

Kick that alcohol craving by drinking lemon water at parties.

16. Food-Borne Illnesses

Drinking lemon water can help you to avoid any sort of food poisoning.

Beautiful images by The Sweet Light 

Preparing for Paleo

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Yesterday afternoon I popped into Food Lovers for some liquorice (it’s a problem) and I ended up with enough veggies to last me all of Paleo With Me Aug – okay, not really, but it sure felt like it. As I was meandering down the aisles I was remembering recipes, snacks, flavours and tips from my previous paleo experiences and was mentally preparing as I went (all the while enjoying my liquorice).

This over-shop resulted in an evening of butternut soup making, banana chip dehydrating and coriander pesto blending (without the parmesan).

One step is ESSENTIAL (read: E-SS-EN-TIAL) to starting strong, enjoying and succeeding at your month of Whole30/paleo eating, and it’s this: PREPARATION.

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Mentally: You need to be mentally prepared. It’s like running a race. I believe, up until a week or two before a race it’s ALL about mental prep – you can’t squeeze any more running into the last 2 weeks before a race. You gotta click into gear mentally. I’d encourage you to read, read, read. Read about how Whole30 started here.  Read through recipes and shopping lists and chat to people who have done this before. Get into the zone, understand what you can and cannot eat and why, plan dinner parties and family celebrations from September onwards. Create a Paleo board on Pinterest and pin your favourite recipes so you can go back to them time and time again. Get your brain in the game.

Here are my recommendations of where to read up on all things Paleo:

– Whole30 and their book ‘It Starts with Food‘ (read the entire website)
– The Clothes Make the Girl, and her books ‘Well Fed‘
– Paleo Grubs
– Stupid Easy Paleo
– NomNom Paleo

Emotionally: Understand this will require a lot of self control. You’ll need to make tough choices. You’ll have to say no to a lot of delicious food that comes past your face. But its for 30 days (well, 31 really, since we’re doing this in August). You’ll have to be brave, and courageous, and you will succeed if you want this enough. Want it enough.

As they say on the Whole30 website: ‘It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime’.

Practically: GO SHOPPING! Make your shopping list and go for it. Find some easy recipes and buy in bulk. Accept now, that you’ll need to take multiple trips to your fresh produce grocer every week. In my experience, the hardest part of Whole30 is feeling peckish (or downright starving) and scratching through your pantry with nothing to eat. Buy raw nuts, free range eggs, cherry tomatoes, avos and orange sweet potatoes in bulk.

Paleo Pic -

Once you have what you need in your pantry, prepare your kitchen. Remove all bad food and get cooking. Make soup and freeze it, boil eggs and have them ready to grab on the go, make beet humus and chop up crudités. Blend up almonds and make almond butter to eat with sliced apple, make homemade beef patties and pop them in the freezer, grate sweet potatoes and blend up cauliflower. Make paleo mayonnaise and salad dressing. Chop up fruits and veg and pack them in smoothie bags. Dehydrate apples and banana slices and have them on hand for when you need a nibble. Have your kitchen loaded with easy to grab and delicious paleo friendly foods.

Beet Humus

Make the time to prepare. It is vital. Take leave from work if you have to, give your kids extra iPad time, feed leftover ice cream to your husband or wife while you make homemade cashew butter and chicken stock.

If you’re prepared, not only will Whole30 change your life, but it will be remarkably easier and really, rather enjoyable.

(As always with this Paleo With Me August, please post additions tips, thoughts and any questions you might have below). 

Healthy Hot Chocolate

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It’s winter. Full and proper. And winter is synonymous with rain, indoor fires, wellies by day, slippers by night, thick chunky soup with toasted ciabatta, down duvets and hot chocolate and marshmallows.

I love a spoil (such as hot choc) but can’t get over the sugar laden, fake milk powdery, chemical-and-preservative-filled-nonsense-hot-choc. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that it isn’t delicious (it certainly is) but it’s not at all healthy. And since you can’t NOT have hot choc in winter – I made it my mission to find a healthier alternative.

I’m happy to report, I found 3 very good options (ranging in simplicity and preference):

1. The Red Basket Food Company’s Warm/Cold Chocolate:

This is simple: its a pre-made hot (or cold) choc powder ready to mix with warm or cold milk/water and voia la. It’s pretty decent tasting as far as a substitute goes and my 3yr old taste tester really enjoys it.

(Ingredients are: Isomalt, Cocoa (26%), Coconut Oil, MCT Oil, Sunflower Lecithin, Stevia, Xanthin Gum)

2. Superfoods Organic Cacao Powder (Raw Chocolate): MY FAVE

Superfoods have a great range of healthy healthy healthy powders, butters, seeds, berries and smoothie mixes. You can read up on the benefits of cacao powder here. The organic raw cacao powder can be mixed raw sugar (or honey) and milk to make a delicious and rich hot choc. I love the Superfoods range. Again, a real winner. I’d encourage you to sprinkle some organic cacao nibs on top on particularly cold nights.

3. Dairy-Free Mind Body Green Healthy Hot Choc (this one is a bit more higher grade – for those who are keen to give a slightly more complicated recipe a go…)

This version of hot chocolate is the perfect dairy-free alternative to the popular beverage. The recipe is full of minerals and healthy fats, including magnesium, silica, and omega-3 fatty acids. Raw cocoa, hemp hearts, Medjool dates, raw honey, vanilla powder, and cinnamon are the ingredients necessary for this recipe. You can experiment by adding other super foods such as goji berries and pre-soaked chia seeds. It is advised to start slowly until you become accustomed to these nutrient-dense foods.

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ Tbsp. of raw cocoa (you can use a melted chocolate bar if you prefer, but choose a high quality, fair-trade one with 70 to 80% cocoa and minimal added sugar)
  • 2 Tbsp hemp hearts
  • 2 Medjool dates
  • 1 Tbsp raw honey (more if you like)
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Preparation

Add all ingredients to your high-speed blender.
Bring 2 ½ cups of water to boil. (You can simply warm the water to the desired temperature if you prefer keeping the cocoa raw and all the enzymes intact.)
Blend and pour into your favorite cup.
Enjoy whether you’re in the midst of snow and ice or someplace warmer.

So – the moral of the story is clear. Don’t hold back. There’s no need to deny yourself this winter essential, in fact, we encourage you to dive in and go wild.

Pssssst… while on the hunt for healthy hot choc, I found this recipe for healthy CHOCOLATE and had everything in my pantry to make them – so I thought I’d add it to this post…

Directions for real, raw healthy chocolates (from Superfoods themselves) to eat alongside your real rich healthy hot choc (I mean – why not).

Ingredients

Preparation

Melt the cacao butter and coconut oil in a double boiler.
Add the melted liquid to your blender and add honey.
Slowly add the cacao powder and vanilla and blend on low speed until mixed. All ingredients can be mixed by hand if you don’t have a blender.
Pour into ice cube trays (or cupcake wrappers) and set in the fridge. 

… and don’t forget to add your homemade marshmallows. The options really are endless.

What’s your fave warm winter bevvie?

The BEST homemade salad dressing

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We’ve been making our own salad dressing for yeeeears. I honestly couldn’t even tell you the last bottle of salad dressing we bought. Making your own salad dressing is so easy (and healthy!), you probably have all the ingredients you need in your kitchen right now.

This dressing comes from Regent College‘s ‘Food Course‘ and is also known as the (Loren and Mary-Ruth) Wilkinson salad dressing… or maybe I just call it that – who knows.

The best thing about it (besides it being heaps healthier and very delicious, obviously) is that you don’t need to measure a thing; you can guess it all using ratios. We like things rustic and a bit goosed loosey.

Wilkinson Salad Dressing:

  • 4 parts extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 parts balsamic vinegar
  • 1 part soy sauce (you can use reduced sodium soy sauce if you prefer)
  • 1 part maple syrup (which is easily accessible if you live in Canada, so a good substitute is honey)

We usually grab a mason jar and half full it with olive oil, pour in enough balsamic vinegar to take it to 3/4’s full and top it up with equal portions of soy sauce and maple syrup/honey. And it’s easy to remember: 4:2:1:1.


Shake that baby up and pour it over anything! Really. Anything. It’s sweet, it’s salty; it’s good for salads, on a boiled egg over avo, to liven up some sweet potato mash, or to dunk some crudités into.

Yeeeeeum.

*Some people like to add extra things such as lemon juice, Dijon mustard and/or black pepper. If you like that idea, go ahead, but I’ve always found the original recipe so easy and tasty I don’t bother with anything else. You know – keep it simple.

Thinking Organic

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Back in Vancouver, when summer eveeeentually broke free, we would always scramble to sign up to receive a CSA box.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. This is a prepaid subscription to a farm’s produce for the season. Most CSA’s give shareholders a weekly supply of veggies, herbs, fruits and sometimes even eggs and meat. You know it’s fresh and you often have the opportunity to visit the farm and meet the people who grew your food. How rad? The prepaid CSA arrangement also makes it a source of financial security for the farmer. You’re a team. At the end of the day your food is fresh, seasonal, local and by getting involved you are supporting your local farmers. The best bit often was trying to identify unfamiliar produce items and Google how to use them in your meals that week.

So you can imagine my delight when I heard about Think Organic. They do a similar thing, but all year round, and so I jumped online, ordered my family budget bag of fruits and veggies, and wrote to Jamie Feldman, one of the founders – asking him about they got started here in Cape Town.

Here’s the scoop: Think Organic launched as an online shop in 2013 by himself and Natalie Coyne. After Jamie’s mom was diagnosed with cancer, part of her treatment included a diet change and organic juicing (I’m not surprised) and they thought to develop an online shop whereby they could promote the produce of local organic farms to like-minded people who are conscious about what they eat.

Natalie and Jamie source the produce from local farmers (now friends) and consider compostable packaging another important avenue to rethink (as should we). The Think Organic team love chatting to their clients, answering questions, and are working hard at building the community of farmers, organic consumers and green-friends. They know where all their food comes from and consider trust to be one of their highest priorities in the way they do business. Encouraging local farming also provides jobs for previously unemployed people in the surrounding areas, which is close to Jamie and Natalie’s hearts.

You can pop into their Kenilworth store (23a Putney Road) and build your own bag of all things organic (fruit, veggies, meats, seeds, breads, coffee, dairy products, and and aaaand) or grab a pre-packed bag. The budget bag costs R105 and the family bag is R155 (which I didn’t think was particularly expensive) and contains a variety of their choosing – similar to our Vancouver CSA boxes. There are also various pick up zones for easy collection convenience. This is what my bag looked like:


And this is what my littlie thought about it:

As they say ‘It all starts with a thought, so think organic‘.

If you have any questions, check Think Organic out at www.thinkorganic.co.za or email Jamie on shop@thinkorganic.co.za.

(Pictures taken by myself as well as taken from Think Organic’s Instagram account) 

A Natural Health Kick

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Thinking back now, it is bizarre how life has led me to this point of valuing wellness in a new, more natural light.

Back in 2008, I randomly worked for a Health and Wellness company and saw some pretty incredible things. I was (and still am) completely convinced by how important healthy food and correct supplementation (if necessary) can be, along with rethinking simply jumping into medicine and how natural approaches can absolutely change lives. Not only did I see fairly sick people become well, but I saw healthy people flourish. I have the utmost respect for medical science and am constantly amazed by the breakthroughs happening in that realm, but when it comes down to what we mere non-doctors can do, I’ll opt for the natural until intelligently instructed otherwise.

So my boss back in the day had this magic potion he used to make when he started feeling sick. Recently I shared this little gem with a colleague of mine who was starting to feel under the weather and she bounced back almost instantaneously. I had forgotten how effective it could be, and now with winter upon us and new bugs coming home from play school, I’m stocking up on these 4 very simple and easy to find ingredients:

– honey (as local and natural as you can find)
– fresh garlic (crushed)
– fresh ginger (crushed, or cut up as finely)
– brandy (preferably not for kiddies)

Garlic & Ginger (foodathonindia.blogspot.com)

All you do is mix equal portions of the above together to make a paste. Yes, its gross, and yes, you will smell of garlic, and you do need to throw this towards the back of your mouth and try swallow it without gagging, but it works. I consider it a healthy dose of a natural antibiotic. Do this as often as you need to, when feeling a bit gross.

lemon hot water www.med-health.net

As far as drinks go, there’s always the good old HOT TODDY: Honey, ginger and lemon in a cup of hot water, or you can add crushed ginger to hot water for a sore throat. No brainer.

I keep all of the above at the office and at home. While I can easily consume a roll of cheery flavoured Halls lozenges in one go, it won’t do half the work that those 4 beautiful natural gifts can provide.

Wishing you a warm, safe and bug-free winter.

xxx

Healthy Homemade Marshmallows

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On Fridays, my 3 year old has music lessons at school. And often when I pick him up, he says to me ‘if we sing, we get marshmallows’, or alternatively ‘I didn’t sing today so I didn’t get a marshmallow’ – the latter makes me chuckle under my breath imagining the poor music teacher trying to get my fairly strong willed child to do something (anything!) he doesn’t want to do.

Either way, marshmallows have become quite the new treat for my toddler who barely ever gets sugar (unless its the weekend, we’re rewarding him for wearing his eye patch, we’re at a party, or gran is feeling heavy handed on the sugary goodness). As a self diagnosed sugar addict, I do want to keep these little bodies away from sugar as much as I can. Don’t all parents want to protect their children from such enticing temptations…

So, I went on the hunt for a healthier option, a homemade marshmallow recipe – which I found easily thanks to Wellness Mama. It is super easy to make, super delish and you can adapt it as you wish. You even have the option of adding probiotics (for those of whose kids don’t drink kombucha.. so… most of us then?) – what a win.

Ingredients:
  • 4 tablespoons of pasture-raised gelatin powder. (Gelatin is incredibly healthy for you!!)
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 cup of honey (we buy local)
  • 1 tablespoon of Marshmallow Root (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla or other flavor optionals (mint extract, lemon, cocoa powder, etc). Please get pure vanilla extract. Vanilla essence is just a flavoured chemical.
  • Optional: 4 capsules of probiotics. (I use The Real Thing)
  • Equipment: A small sauce pan, plus a hand mixer & a metal bowl – or a kitchen aid mixer if you have one.
Instructions:
  1. Optional Step: Combine 1 cup of warm water with the 1 tablespoon of Marshmallow Root and let sit for 5 minutes (or as long as overnight in the fridge), Stir well and strain. Make sure that the liquid makes a while cup.
  2. Pour ½ cup of water (marshmallow mix if you used it) into the metal bowl or mixer bowl and add the gelatin. Whisk slightly to incorporate and let sit.
  3. Pour the other ½ cup of water and the 1 cup of honey into the small saucepan.
  4. Slowly bring the water and honey mixture to a boil. If you have a kitchen thermometer, you want it to reach at least 240 degrees. If not, just keep boiling, stirring constantly for 8 minutes. This will boil over really quickly if you don’t keep a close eye on it. Beware!
  5. Slowly start pouring the honey/water mixture into the bowl with the gelatin mix (which will be hardened by now).
  6. Turn on the mixer or hand mixer and keep on medium as the honey mixture is added.
  7. When add honey mix is added, turn the mixer to high and blend with the mixer for another 10-15 minutes or until it forms a stiff cream the consistency of marshmallow cream (it should form gentle peaks).
  8. Add the probiotics and any flavor ingredients for the last 2 minutes of mixing (except cocoa powder which can be added to the honey mix in the saucepan).
  9. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with coconut oil, or line with parchment paper, leaving some on the sides to be able to pull up.
  10. When marshmallows are whipped, pour into the lined/greased dish and smooth evenly.
  11. Let sit at least 4 hours (overnight is better).
  12. Flip on to a cutting board and cut with a well oiled pizza cutter or knife.
  13. Store in an airtight container.

Should you want them powdery then you can mix icing sugar with some corn starch and sprinkle it over your marshies, but I try not to since its defeats the point of them being process-sugar free.

IF, like me, out of pure excitement, you over-beat your marshmallows and it goes a bit bumpy, do not fear! Turn it into Rocky Road Marshmallow. Throw on some toasted almonds, slightly roasted unsweetened coconut flakes and raw cacao nibs. Yummers.

– Keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming blog on healthy hot chocolate options. It’s the obvious follow on to this post. Marshamallows… and hot choc.

Beet, Apple & Ginger Juice

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Beet, Apple & Ginger Juice:

Oh, how I love my juicer. The ONLY downside is the clean-up. But since my son’s school loves leftover food scraps to feed the farm animals – I feel myself acquiring a gold star every time I clean up and collect the food dregs for him.

INGREDIENTS:

3 or 4 beets
2 apples
3 large carrots
Half a lemon
A solid knob of ginger root

Juice those beauties together and then give it a stir and taste. Yum right? A rich, detoxifying, cleansing splash of goodness. Adjust the flavours as you wish. More ginger? More beet, or more lemon? Go for it.

The Wonderbag Review

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It all began back in 2008 during the regular power outages. Sarah had the idea of creating the Wonderbag to ‘ease the impact of health, socioeconomic and environmental problems facing Africa and developing countries’. Growing up in rural Africa, she was passionate about empowering women living below the poverty line.

The Wonderbag has a powerful story. We love these kinds of stories.

So, I’d been staring at the Wonderbag innocently sitting in the office for weeks – it had been flirting with me for a while – and in a moment of pure impulsiveness (these happen rather frequently), I bought it and took it home with recipes running through my head. Firstly, yoghurt. We loved making our own yoghurt in Vancouver with an electric yoghurt maker (which was on for 15hrs at a time), but now with Eskom pushing us off the grid, we’ve gotta get smart about these things.

I ripped open the box, smiled adoringly at my new purchase, and then headed into the kitchen to get going on the yoghurt. Following the recipe exactly (with my hardcore candy thermometer nogal), I placed my pot of yoghurt goodness – at exactly 110 degrees Fahrenheit – carefully into my Wonderbag. I showed hubby ever so proudly when he got home from work and we went to sleep, eager to get up in the morning and see the result.


The next morning I called the family together (no, really, I thought it a teachable moment) and I presented my first attempt at power-free cooking (you can picture the superwoman emblem beaming under my jarmies), and…  it was a watery curdled mess. No no, this was not okay.

Here’s what I learned:

– Read the instructions before use, (duuuuuuuuuuh, every superwoman should know this)
– Don’t use a pot with a long handle that sticks out the bag. A cast iron pot like this is ideal:

– The Wonderbag does not produce heat – it retains heat (this had nothing to do with my failed yoghurt attempt, but is a good reminder).

As it turns out, I’d missed a vital part of how to get started. You need to open your (previously vacuum-packed) bag completely, give it a good shake to get all the chips moving and happy, to then close it tight, allow it to regain its shape and then get cooking. Errr. Oops.

So you could call it a rough introduction to my new purchase, but one that I’m happy to report has been beautifully redeemed.

I have since made a PERFECT batch of yoghurt, and mouth-wateringly delicious curry with the most tender chicken I might have ever tasted. I most recently made chicken stock which I’m thrilled I can make in the Wonderbag since we ALWAYS forget it on the stove and I way prefer it to store bought stock. After resting in the Wonderbag overnight, my stock measured in at an impressive 140 degrees F. That’s hot!

I find myself wanting to use it for everything I cook now. ‘Let’s make a soup, or another curry, steel cut oats, or risotto? Huh huh huh?’ The recipe booklet it comes with is another WIN. You’d be surprised what you can do with this seemingly simple bag.

My conclusion: You feel like you need a goodie badge for owning this little gem. It cooks food tenderly, is Eskom-free and a very, very practical accessory (errmm, dare I say essential?) for your kitchen. But for me, knowing it began as a community initiative supporting underprivileged women in rural townships in Africa; that makes my heart sing.

You can buy your very own Wonderbag online here. Do it!

Banana, Peanut Butter & Yoghurt Smoothie

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Banana, Peanut Butter & Yoghurt Smoothie:

PB Honey Smoothie

This is a super delicious, super easy, no brainer smoothie I often make after school with the kids. Clay went through a blender phase and so smoothies became a regular afternoon treat. This is also a fave post workout drink. Give it a go!

INGREDIENTS:

2 ripe bananas
1.5 cups of double cream yoghurt (the less hormones and additives the better, or homemade yoghurt is even better!)
A big tablespoon of smooth peanut butter
A big teaspoon of honey
2 T chia seeds

Throw it all in the blender with a splash of milk or water to get it moving and let blend it for a couple minutes allowing the peanut butter and honey to mix throughout. YUM.