Recipe: Raw chocolate mousse

For Easter I decided to make a raw chocolate mousse. It was divine!!

Of course this treat could be made any time. I topped it with raspberries and Loving Earth raw chocolate.

I used quite an old and powerless blender, the result was still amazing but not quite as smooth as I wanted. A vitamix or equivalent would be perfect!

Here is my recipe

Ingredients:

I whole medium avocado

Flesh of 2 young coconuts (mine had quite thick flesh as they had matured a bit since leaving Thailand I gather. It was still effective.)

1/4 cup of coconut oil

1/2 cup of water

5 tablespoon of raw cacao (or to your desired strength, taste test!)

A vanilla pod or 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla powder

Approx 1/2 a teaspoon of stevia (taste test.)

Method:

Place water and coconut oil in a pan and warm until oil melts.

Place coconut flesh and avocado in blender. Add the water and melted oil and blend until smooth.

Add stevia, vanilla and raw cacao. Blend until ingredients are well blended and very smooth. Make sure you taste test for cacao strength and sweetness.

Place in separate bowls or one large bowl and place in the freezer for an hour and then the fridge for another half an hour.

Serve with raspberries and roughly chopped raw chocolate or your choice of topping.

Serves 3 to 5 people depending of how big the serves are.

Enjoy! x

Mindfulness meditation: the key to inner peace, healing and equanimity

The past few years of my life have been rather difficult… to say the least. But if there has been one thing that has helped me cope (apart from the support from others), that would be mindfulness and mindfulness meditation.

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness involves being conscious and paying attention to what is happening within the body and mind, in the present moment without judgement or reactivity. Being mindful means being aware of sensory impressions, thoughts, imagery emotions, urges and impulses and accepting these as natural processors of the mind. We become the observer, without identifying with the mind. It is like watching a stream of consciousness, without swimming in it and becoming involved and effected.

Mindfulness shares a number of core principles with the Eastern meditation technique Vipassana including equanimity and impermanence. These two notions or responses are really important to develop and understand.

Equanimity is a neutral response to our daily experiences. It is a state in which we are aware, balanced, calm and composed and neither feel disgust for unpleasant experiences and nor an insatiable craving for pleasant ones. The development of equanimity or an equanimous mind is important in living mindfully and being able to act less reactive and judgemental.

Impermanence is the notion and understanding of the changing and impermanent nature of all things including our own mental and emotional experiences. Realising and understanding impermanence leads to a less rigid view of life and oneself. This idea comes from one of the three marks of existence of Buddhism called Annica.

Quite often in life you do not have complete control over what happens and not all life experiences are going to be pleasant or go your ideal way (I am sorry to say), and this can evoke all kind of negative emotions. What we can control however is how we respond to these experiences, often this will be with anger, frustration, negative thoughts and emotions or we can learn to respond with more equanimity, calmness, optimism and positivity. This is obviously easier said then done, but surprisingly after a lot of training using a mindfulness meditation technique results have been quite significant for me personally. It does not mean you will never experience feelings of anger, negativity and frustration but you will not get caught up in these emotions and physically/emotionally react to them. You will be fully aware of these emotions, mindful, non-judgemental and non-reactive.

So how do you put mindfulness into practise?

You can simply make a conscious decision to become more aware, observant and present in daily life. Although this is a great start, practising mindfulness meditation is much more effective at training the brain to become more mindful. The daily training you do will eventually flow into everyday living. It will naturally become a part of how you live your life.

You can simply begin practising mindfulness meditation from the instructions found on the internet or by finding a mindfulness meditation group or practitioner. Or if you are really serious about training in mindfulness you can do as I did and do quite intensive training with a practitioner such a psychologist who specialises in mindfulness meditation training. Although I wasn’t very keen on seeing a psychologist, it was well worth the effort to have the support of someone through the intense 4 month training 40 minutes twice a day.

Another important part of understanding the notion of living in the present moment and detaching myself (as much as possible) from the ego (the mind) was reading the bookA New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Although living mindfully has not necessarily made a difference to the physical symptoms of my ME/CFS is has done absolute wonders to how I deal with it on a daily basis. No more crying, chucking tantrums and thinking dark, negative, destructive thoughts (which there is no doubt effect the body on a physical level.) Not only this but it has dramatically changed how I react to criticism, to my own thought processors and to daily life in general.

 

Are you hungry for change?

The creators of the educational and eye opening documentary Food Matters James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch are about to release their new film Hungry For Change. This film features some of the worlds leading health authors and medical experts providing information on how to take control of your own health and heal yourself! This premiere is FREE so I thought it was well worth mentioning this on here. I personally think it will be a must see for all! Food Matters has done a superb job at getting the message out there of the importance of real nutrition for the mind, body and soul. Although I did not agree with Food Matters very strong raw foods message entirely, I still think that what the creators have done and continue to do is amazing.

You can sign up for the premiere here which will begin in about 4 hours and last for 10 days! Get on it.

Recipe: Chicken Liver Pate

Chicken Liver Pate is a rich, luxurious, nutrient dense food. It is loaded with vitamins and minerals including preformed vitamin A (retinol), B vitamins, vitamin K, vitamin C, iron and various other minerals.

My recipe is inspired by Sally Fallon’s recipe in the book Nourishing Traditions. You may try different herbs and spices that tickle your fancy. I used coconut oil to make mine dairy free but traditionally the recipe would use butter or ghee.

Recipe: Chicken Liver Pate

Ingredients

400g approx of chicken liver

2 Tablespoons of coconut oil, butter or ghee

1 large onion finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or white wine

A bunch of chives

1/2 teaspoon of rosemary

1/2 teaspoon of mustard (I use Eden foods paste.)

I have also experimented with adding fresh basil, coriander and parsley

Sea salt

Method

Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, butter or ghee in a pan, add onions and cook until they begin to soften. Add the livers, garlic, chives, rosemary and cook for around 10 minutes.

Deglaze with vinegar or wine, add any additional herbs and mustard and cook until additional liquid has gone.

Season with sea salt and add an additional tablespoon of coconut oil, butter or ghee. Allow to cool slightly.

Process in a food processor or if you do not have one like me use a stab mixer. Blend until smooth. Place in a crock pot or chosen mold and chill well for a few hours or overnight.

I make bone broth

Bone broth is a truly nutrient dense, nourishing food that has been made by various cultures for centuries. It requires the simmering of bones and/or carcass from either poultry, fish or meat for approximately 12-72 hours. The cooking process breaks down the bones and connective tissues of the animal creating a broth rich in proteins, minerals and fat. The inclusion of an acidic medium such as apple cider vinegar helps to draw minerals from the bones. The longer you simmer the bones/carcass the more nutritious the broth becomes.

Bone broth is rich in collagen which is the building block of skin, hair, tendons, cartilage and organs. One fourth of the protein in our body is collagen. Gelatin, the food term for collagen is particularly beneficial for gut healing and provides amino acids glycine, proline and lysine. Bone broth is rich in the minerals calcium, magnesium ,phosphorus and other trace minerals. It also provides glucosamine and chondroiton which may help arthritis and joint pain. Bone broth is particularly helpful for those with digestive disorders, because it is easily digested the body can utilise the nutrients present.

The most detailed and well researched article I have found on bone broth is by Dr Allison Siebecker Traditional Bone Broth in Modern Health and Disease. I usually make a bone broth once a week to sip on, make soups and braise meats. Not only is bone broth highly medicinal it has great flavour.

Here are instructions for producing your very own bone broth:

Source some bones and/or carcasses:

Fish carcass, chicken carcass, beef or lamb bones (raw bones, meaty bones, knuckles, ribs, necks or feet.) Choose only one animal.

Source enough water to cover the bones

Add in a large splash of vinegar (apple cider, balsamic or even wine.)

You may add in vegetables such as carrot, celery or any vegetable scraps. I usually have my broth plain.

When the bones/carcasses are covered with water and vinegar let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour then begin to heat to a simmer. Remove any scum that rises to the top. Now let the pot simmer on a very low setting (for chicken and fish 6 to 24 hours and beef and lamb 12 to 72 hours.) You may add in your vegetables a few hours before it is ready.

You may use the stove top or do what I do and after bringing the pot to the boil and removing scum transfer to a slow cooker.

When the time is up sieve the broth through a strainer. You can keep any meat and marrow remaining for soups etc.

Refrigerate or freeze your broth. It will last around 5 days in the fridge and many months in the freezer.

It is best to discard the fat of the fish or chicken broth as the fats are predominantly delicate polyunsaturated and monounsaturated and become rancid after cooking for long periods. The fat of lamb and beef is great for cooking and baking as it is highly saturated and stable.

Enjoy!

 

Do you make bone broth? Has it helped you in anyway? Or do you just love the taste!

Paleo and my current favourite reads

You may have discovered from reading my blog and seeing the various links from my site that I personally integrate an organic, whole foods, traditional/paleo/primal/ diet into my healing regime and ME/CFS management. It has been a hugely gradual transition to this diet (‘way of life’) and lifestyle. The transition has been fairly seamless, especially given my circumstance (I will try anything without a fuss) and the fact eating, living this way gives me joy and tastes so goood! I have never been so satisfied in my whole life.

If you are new to the paleo concept it entails consuming a real, whole foods diet similar to that of our Paleolithic ancestors that lived 2.4 million to about 10,000 years ago prior to the development of agriculture. Our bodies are fundamentally identical to those who lived in the paleolithic era, our genes are still 99% the same as they were 40,000 years ago. Throughout the paleolithic period, over hundreds of thousands or so of generations nature shaped who we are biologically, genetically and physiologically. We evolved to be hunter gatherers. The average modern day diet is a far cry from what we have evolved the eat and this is causing a world wide health crisis. Put simply we are quite literally what we eat and what we absorb. What we feed our body our amazing digestive system turns into molecules that all the cells in our body use for energy, maintenance, growth and repair. Our bodies require an abundance of amino acids, fatty acids, glucose, enzymes, vitamins, minerals and so on to maintain optimal health and function. When in doubt, start with diet and from personal experience looking to our ancestors for answers is a smart place to start.

So what did our paleolithic ancestors eat?

• Naturally organic, wild, grass fed, hormone, chemical, antibiotic free meats, organ meats and offal, seafood and eggs
• Plenty of organic fibrous vegetables and some starchy vegetables such as sweet potato
• Small amount of nuts and seeds and occassional fruits and berries when in season

Those following a modern day paleo diet also include healthy additions such

• Coconut and various coconut products which provide a rich source of medium chain fatty acids and immune boosting lauric acid, avocado, olive oil, ghee, some include dairy which is not technically paleo but for many in its raw, organic form is well tolerated, particularly when fermented into kefir, yogurt and cheese. Other traditional foods may be eaten such as home made, probiotic sauerkraut and bone broth. Additional spices, seasoning, natural salt, coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar.

They ate fat, quite a bit of it actually and mostly saturated, no processed foods, no grains, no sugar, no soy, no legumes, no toxic seeds oils or high fructose corn syrup and in general no toxic pesticides, chemicals, artificial sweeteners and additives.

Their diets were naturally highly anti-inflammatory and nutritious!

This is a very brief rundown of the basics, but feel welcome to check out some of my links to find more detailed explanations, hard science and technicalities. There are some fabulous practitioners now advocating a healthy, traditional, primal diet and lifestyle in conjunction with other interventions for optimal wellbeing such as optimising vitamin D through sun exposure and supplementation, other more specific supplementation, daily activity, relaxation/meditation, stress free lifestyle and being amongst nature when possible. Check out the blogs of medical practitioners, get educated, see what works for you. Some great places to start: Dr Anastasia Boulais, Dr Cate Shanahan, Dr Mercola, Dr Axe, Dr Kurt Harris, Dr Sarah Myhill (ME/CFS specialist), Dr Jack Kruse, Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride, Dr Terry Wahls, Dr Micheal R. Eades and Dr Emily Deans; health practitioners such as Chris Kresser, Dianne Sanfilippo and Nora Gedgaudas; registered dietitions such as Amy Kubal and Aglaee Jacob; Scientists such as Gary Taubes, Loren Codain, Paul Jaminet, Mark Sisson, Ray Peat and Robb Wolf; and advocates such as Sarah Wilson and nutritionist Lola Berry. Not all of these practitioners are strict paleo, thats not what its about, it’s about finding what works for you, for optimal health. If you have some free time check out the free Paleo Summit which is currently running. My final words, this is about real, nourishing, healing food, what our bodies recognise, utilise and have evolved to consume.

And on to my current reads. Just finished the first book I have read (properly!) in 2 and a half years. The book was Primal Body Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in optimal health and healing various chronic health conditions. It is well researched and well written, I thoroughly enjoyed it. She covers alot in this book including the paleo diet, grains, soy, digestion, immune function, cholesterol, vitamins, minerals, omega 3′s, diabetes, leptin, insulin, fat, carbohydrates, brain function, anxiety, depression, food allergies and sensitivities and tips on how to improve your diet and lifestyle and supplementation if necessary. I will probably have to read it again as there is so much to absorb.

Another book, Digestive Wellness by Elizabeth Lipski which is an absolute gold mine of information for those suffering, immune, auto-immune, digestive, hormonal disorders plus many other conditions. It includes all the current research into various disorders (such as ME/CFS) and their link with digestive health and on probiotics, healthy fats and anti-inflammatory foods. This book thoroughly covers the steps you can take to recover your health with the most current, sophisticated tests to find out where you stand when it comes to deficiencies, bowel flora, parasites, SIBO, food allergy etc and how to eat a healing diet, detoxification, supplementation, emotional work.

Have you read these books and are their others you would recommend? Have you tried eating a whole foods, organic paleo style diet?

Green Smoothie Time!

When it comes to green smoothies there are so many options so experiment and find what works for you. Here is a recipe that I regularly follow for a green smoothie. Because I am currently detoxing the parasite blastocystis hominis and candida and they lurrve any sugar and grains I do not add any fruit to mine apart from maybe some kefir coconut cream or water where the bacteria has consumed the sugars oh and avocado.

Here is my recipe.

A stalk of celery

1/2 small avocado or 1/4 of large avocado

Tablespoon of coconut oil

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and/or vanilla

1/2 cucumber

A handful of lettuce or spinach

Coriander and/or mint

Coconut water kefir

Water

Pinch of himalayan salt

Stevia

There are many additions you could add including fruit, spirulina, chlorella, chia seeds, coconut cream kefir.

Put ingredients together in your blender and blend!!

Enjoy x

 

Christmas times, Raw cheesecake and a health update

Hope y’all had a fabulous christmas and new years! Mine was relaxing and included plenty of delicious food and family times. The star of the show was by far was my raw cheesecake made from cashews, a decadent treat on christmas day. It was a relatively quiet christmas for my immediate family and I, for lunch we enjoyed beautiful fresh king prawns, trevally, baked vegetables, salad, pesto mayo, guacamole, salsa and sweet potato chips. Dessert was my raw cheesecake and an apricot tart.

unintentionally corny family christmas photo

On the subject of how I have been feeling! A few weeks before christmas I received a couple of test results back from America: my provocation heavy metal test through Genova Diagnostics and my very pricey Metametrix Gastro Intestinal profile test. The results have been extremely helpful in treating specifics. My heavy metals particularly mercury, arsenic, lead, tin, platinum, rubidium, copper, lithium were through the roof! Dangerrr zone. No surprises there. So just before christmas I have embarked on furthur heavy metal detoxification and chelation just in time for christmas. I am doing this with DMSA by Thorne Research one capsule before bed, and am also including chlorella by Dr Mercola, Natural Path Silver Wings Heavy Metal Detox formula, continuing other important detoxification nutrients such as high dose lipsomal vitamin C , B vitamins, minerals, lipsomal glutathione and R- lipoic acid.

My GI profile test showed up low levels of certain beneficial bacteria such as lactobacillus, the parasite blastocytis homonis was identified (very common in immune disorders), secretory IgA deficiency (which is the first line of defence in your immune system, VERY IMPORTANT) and elastase 1 pancreatic enzymes deficiency. The very first plan of attack after these results is to get rid of the parasite. My doctor gave me the option of a treatment program designed by a Sydney gastroenterologist using three drugs or to try herbal parasite formulas. I opted for the herbal formula first. I am using Costat by Metagenics and a parasite formula by Healthforce Nutritionals in congunction. I also make use of a zapper, use oxypowder and frequent enemas to help clear out the colon where these parasite suckers reside in the intestinal wall. As always I eat a clean, organic diet, free from my allergies, intolerances and a diet mirroring that of our paleolithic ancestors. It is interesting that the things which my body cannot tolerate are actually very new additions to the human diet. Not so much a coincidence. After I have successfully removed the parasite I will begin to include supplements for gut healing, and that increase sIgA, beneficial bacteria and pancreas sufficiency. Alot of what I do already addresses this but I will be including further support for gut healing. I will speak about this soon.

Now for the good news I can officially say I have improved! YEAH after 2 and half years of this I would bloody hope so. I would say I am at about 30 percent which is really a huge jump from probably 5-10 percent not too long ago. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel after all this time. I know I have a long road ahead of me, but I feel like it is all going to be ok. I believe it is due to a very large combination of everything I do to heal my body. This I am tweaking all the time to find what works best for ME!!

Now for my Raw cheesecake recipe.

Recipe: Raw Cheesecake

Ingredients

Base

1 cup of activated almonds

12 fresh organic dates

pinch of salt

Filling

2 cup of organic raw cashews

1 cup of young coconut kefir yogurt

3/4 cup of melted coconut oil

3/4 of a cup of water

1 cup of raspberries

1/2 cup of blackberries

Pinch of salt

Stevia to taste

vanilla

Method

Soak cashews for 7 hours in water

Try to find activated almonds for the base or soak overnight and dehydrate your own.

Process dates, almonds and salt in a food processor until it is well blended, still textured/chunky but sticks together. Press into a cake tin lined with clingwrap.

After cashews have been soaked place in blender with young coconut kefir yogurt, melted coconut oil, water, vanilla, stevia and pinch of salt. Blend really well until creamy. You may have to do this for a while stopping and starting the blender as to not burn it out depending on its strength. Pour around half of mixture on top of the base and chill. With the remaining filling mixture blend with the raspberries. Pour most of this onto the filling and chill. Blend the blackberries with the small amount of remaining mixture and then place this on the top of the raw filling. Chill overnight of freeze if you want to consume quicker and defrost for half an hour before consuming. Enjoy!!

Christmas eats: Pumpkin biscuits and pumpkin pie

Here follows a couple of recipes with pumpkin as the star ingredient. Pumpkin biscuits and a pumpkin cream pie. Hope your Christmas is ultra delicious!

Recipe: Pumpkin Biscuits

Ingredients

1/4 cup of coconut oil or butter

1/3 of a cup of pumpkin puree (steamed or baked)

3 eggs

Stevia

Vanilla

1/2 cup of coconut flour

1//4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Combine wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Combine dry ingredients in small bowl.

Blend or whisk dry ingredients into wet, making sure no lumps remain.

Let batter sit for a couple of minutes to thicken. Dough should be soft but hold its shape when scooped.

Scoop dough onto parchment-lined sheet, about 1″ scoops. Cookies will not spread much during baking.

Bake 17-20 minutes. Cookies will be set and very lightly browned..

Recipe: Pumpkin Pie

Use the recipe for Coconut Berry Pie but instead of the berries add 1 cup of pureed roasted pumpkin.

Recipes for the christmas season: Coconut berry pie

Leading up to christmas I will be sharing a few recipes I have been knocking together in the kitchen which are not only amazingly delicious but very healthy too. Hope it gives you some inspiration to get creative in the kitchen!

Here is a recipe for coconut berry pie, it is devine! It fits well into my diet sans allergens, intols and pro inflammatory foods, hope it will be suitable for you also.

Recipe: Coconut Berry Pie

Ingredients

Crust

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup of shredded coconut unsweetened

1/4 cup of melted coconut oil

2 eggs

Stevia

Cinnamon

Pinch of unrefined salt

Filling

2 cans of coconut cream

3 egg yolks

1 tablespoon of pure bovine gelatin

1 tablespoon of coconut flour

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

stevia

vanilla

Pinch of unrefined salt

berries

Method

Crust

Combine coconut flour and coconut shreds (I blended them a bit in the food processor as the shreds were large.) Combine the rest of the ingredients mixing well. Add the coconut flour and shreds. Mix well. The mixture should be like dough and slightly pliable. Roll into a ball and flatten out onto a piece of baking paper. Roll and mold it out into a large circle (that will fit your chosen pie dish.) It does tend to break if rolled with a rolling pin but just continue to mold with fingers. Grease pie dish with coconut oil. When the round of crust is achieved place the pie dish upside down on top of the dough and carefully flip over so the crust is in the pie dish. Then mold it into place.

Place into a preheated oven at 160 degrees celsius for about 15 minutes. Cool on bench.

Filling

Place 2 cans of coconut cream in a pot and heat until simmering, simmer for about 10 minutes whisking constantly. Whisk 2 egg yolks in a medium bowl. Add one quarter of the coconut cream to the egg yolks whisking constantly, then add the rest of the coconut cream as you continue to whisk it into the yolks. Add the mixture back into the pot and onto a medium hot plate, simmer for another 10 minutes whisking continuously. It will begin to thicken. Add the gelatine, coconut flour, coconut oil, stevia, vanilla and salt still whisking.

Take off the heat and place in an ice bath or into the freezer to cool whisking every few minutes. When thicker take one quarter of the coconut custard and blend roughly with 1/2 a cup of your choice of berries. Pour plain coconut custard into the pie crust. Pour the berry and custard mixture onto the top of the pie crust and swirl around with the custard. Place some more berries into the top of the pie.

You can serve it slightly warm, place it in the fridge for an hour and it will be cool or leave it over night in the fridge and the filling becomes very firm, a bit like cheesecake! Yuum.