Still losing weight!!

At last a healthy way of eating that works for me... 

I've lost another 2lbs (on average I'm losing 1lb a week) which for me is the best results I've ever had on any diet plan. Also, I'm finally losing inches and my stomach is finally getting flatter...yes I've a long way to go at least another 2 stone (28lbs) But it's finally happening for me it's only taken me 3 years to suss it out!! So I'm...

Juicing my way to health!

A quick 'go to' breakfast juice for me is either almond milk blended with frozen fruit e.g bananas and strawberries. If I forget to soak the almonds, then 2 juiced oranges are great. It's a good idea to leave the frozen fruit out of the freezer for about 10 minutes before using. It's quick and easy and keeps me going until lunch time. But most importantly it's delicious ...so no feelings of deprivation!! 

Why this variation of the 5:2 diet works for me!

Monday means JUICE DAY! Yaay!

I'm on my eighth week since I began juicing 2 days a week and at last I've found a way of eating that's healthy and works for me!

So far I've lost 1stone 2 lbs (16 lbs)

and I'm feeling pretty pleased with this.  The main reason is that I can fit it around my lifestyle...

I actually look forward to my two days of juicing, I feel it somehow grounds me and keeps all the healthy nutrients constantly feeding and re energising me on a weekly basis. 

 For the following 3 days I eat juice for breakfast and then two 'clean' meals...weekend anything goes!!

This means I can go out for Sunday lunch with all the trimmings have a glass of wine and even like this Sunday have the pud!  I'm keeping  dessert to Sundays as I've realised that wheat is a big no no for me. 

Within 2 days of eating, bread or cake my skin begins to tingle and small itchy white spots appear on my thumb and fingers.  Keeping wheat out of my diet, I have no problems. I don't think I'm gluten intolerant, just sensitive for some reason.  At least I've stumbled on the solution by accident if not by design!

living on the edge...

Decided to continue living dangerously...

So after reading all the hyperbole on the dangers of a juicy lifestyle and all the nutrients I'm not feeding my body on 'netdoctor', I decided to  do a count up, of exactly what my juices consisted of yesterday. (Mondays are day 1 of my 5:2 juice diet)

Juice 1 

1 apple - vit c, anti oxidants, soluble fibre

2 pears- copper,vit.C&K, phenolic phytonutrients including   antioxidants, anti inflammatory flavonoids,soluble fibre

A quarter of a cucumber- sodium, potassium

2 spears asparagus-vit.B,C,E &K,   calcium,magnesium,zinc,protein,beta carotene, thiamine and riboflavin

Avocado (100g)- several B vits., vit.K,C &E, potassium, 'good' fats

Juice 2

1 apple (see above)

1 pear (see above)

A quarter of cucumber (see above)

Handful of fresh mint -Vit A,C & B-complex vitamins.

Juice 3  

This juice looks so innocent,
but with the combination of chili and ginger
it definitely qualifies for living on the edge!

1 apple (see above)

Half a pineapple -Vit C,B1&B6, copper,manganese,folate and bromelain

Half a mango-Vit A,B6,C,&E, flavonoids and potassium

Red Chili-  Vit. C, potassium,magnesium,iron,

Lime-Vit C,calcium,iron,copper

Raw ginger-Vit C,magnesium,potassium,copper,manganese

Juice 4

1 beetroot - Vit C, iron, potassium,manganese (renowned for cleansing the liver and the blood, reduces high blood pressure)

2 carrots -mineral salts such as potassium,cobalt,iron  magnesium,copper, phosphorus

1 parsnip- Vit.B, C, E&K, potassium, zinc,iron,phosphorus, manganese,magnesium,

A lovely sweet juice to finish the day with!

Raw ginger (see above)   

So it comes as no surprise that I definitely never felt hungry, I had no bloating or stomach cramps. I had lots of energy and I'm sleeping like a baby. Plus signs and symptoms of a cold I had over the weekend have disappeared altogether without trace!

Too dangerous to live on juice...bring it on!

Too much juicing can be dangerous...because what about the carbohydrate or the protein?

It's an amazing fact, that the minute you begin telling people you're eating healthily... i.e. juicing they tell you about the dangers!! 

An article on  'netdoctor' asks what about the carbohydrate? Yes we need it but not in vast quantities and what does it do?  Well it's easily converted to glucose giving instant energy and often more than the body can cope with so it stores it as fat!  

Juices give you fructose, so lots of energy, but a natural more complex sugar, but for some reason 'net doctor' thinks all your teeth will drop out if you drink juiced 'dangerous' fruits!

What about the protein? Well lots of veg have protein e.g. peas, spinach, kale, broccoli all firm favourites for juicing. But not only do they contain protein it's all the other lovely goodies, vitamins, minerals, anti oxidants etc. Blend your juices with avocados and not only do you get a creamy lush juice, but you get fibre, 'good' fats, protein and loads of minerals e.g potassium. 

Even without the avocado, juices contain soluble fibre which remains in the juice. So scaremongering about bloating and bowel problems are ridiculous. 

And there's also the story someone can't wait to tell you (when they find out your juicing) of a friend of a friend who knew someone who juiced and turned orange!!

Well yes, this is possible...but only if they'd drank nothing but carrots for weeks and weeks! Even the most hardened juicer isn't likely to do that!

Strangely, no one seems to comment if your eating foods high in trans fats. So this is most cakes,pies biscuits. They're not too bothered if you eat foods high in refined sugars either, sauces,jams,yogurts, canned fruit, breakfast cereals, ice cream ... 

Because after all, that's normal! Eating ourselves into an early grave!

Move over Jamie Oliver...Jason is the new kid on the block!

My most used cookbook...and it's not Jamie Oliver, The Hairy Bikers, Mary Berry or even good Old Delia!

Jason Vale super fast food

Jason Vale has become my 'go to' every time! His recipes are easy, delicious but most of all made in minutes!!  

Take last Friday, it was wet,windy and miserable.  I'd already got soaked walking the dog and I just wanted to stay inside in the warm comfort of my own home... I definitely didn't want to go out and buy stuff for the evening meal. 

It was going to have to be something that I had all the ingredients for and I didn't want to spend hours in the kitchen (some days there are better things to do especially when you've just bought a new crime novel and can't wait to start reading it!) So it had to be quick!

A quick check in the pantry and the fridge and I decided to make Jason's veggie chilli.

I've made it before and it's super speedy and tasty, real comfort food on a miserable March day.

I've made most of the recipes now and they all work. In the intro to his book Jason says, 

'I want this book to get worn, stained and scruffy' 

Jason would be proud of me...I've certainly achieved that! 

Oh and the crime novel I couldn't wait to read, Sarah Ward's           'A deadly thaw' 

A deadly thaw

This is Sarah's 2nd novel, the first being 'In bitter chill' which I loved. Some 2nd novels sometimes disappoint, not this one, a real page turner!

Exercise is it really good for you?

Ok so I've changed my eating habits and I'm losing weight...what about this exercise thing? 

I've been giving a lot of thought to exercise recently and what or whether  I should increase mine? Exercise for me is dog walking, about an hour a day and then general household tasks, spring summer and autumn this includes gardening.  But is this enough and is exercise really that beneficial?

Every weight loss story I read describes the misery of 'fat' and  the bliss of 'thin' and somewhere along the weight loss journey is the discovery of the joy of exercising.  So I fully expected the desire to exercise...to suddenly kick in...right about now actually. 

To date I've lost 1 stone 1 lb (15 lb) so I was expecting to suddenly jump out of bed with all this new found energy, grab my trainers and be doing laps around the block! It just hasn't happened for me, hence booking in for Yoga the 'gentle soothing' exercise... yeah right.   

So why am I doing it?  Especially when research states that the effect of exercise on any single health risk factor i.e. high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes is generally small.

Well, because research also shows that, combined with other lifestyle changes such as; proper nutrition, cutting down on refined sugars etc. the effects can be dramatic!

I've found the eating plan that works for me...lots of lovely juices, and meals that contain delicious nutrient dense foods.  Now to suss out the best exercise plan for me...

Anyone for aqua salsa! ( And no I haven't just made that up!)

Yoga the gentle form of exercise....oh really!

According to the 'NHS live well', yoga doesn't count towards your 150 minutes of exercise!

Apparently it's not strenuous enough!! And so, feeling fairly confident that it wouldn't be too difficult I signed up for a course. I wasn't interested in all the 'mumbo jumbo' finding my happy place etc.  I was just interested in the 'gentle, soothing' exercises...

I don't know who assesses exercise for the 'NHS live well', bur they obviously weren't 62 and the last time they exercised was back in the 90's when they took two days to recover.  It is definitely not for wimps, pulling, stretching all those muscles that a.) I didn't know I had and b.) haven't worked for years. 

By the time I finally collapsed on the mat for the last 15 minutes of relaxation, I didn't care about any 'mumbo jumbo' I'd definitely found my 'happy' place!

Honestly, if I hadn't paid up front for my lessons I think I'd have chickened out of continuing.  The next session was slightly easier...and I can now touch the floor with my finger tips! Yaay! Ok I know everyone else get their palms on the floor with ease...but small steps...  

I have noticed farting can be a side effect of all this relaxation, so note to self NO mung beans and lentils the day before classes!  

10 fruit and veg a day...but juicing doesn't count!!!

Qualified dieticians now tell us having your 5 a day isn't enough...it has to be 10! But forget counting on juicing! 

This study into the benefits of chomping your way through 10 portions of fruit and veg involved  2 million people. The conclusions were that increasing from 5 to 10 portions a day, vastly increases life expectancy. So far so good... avid juicers have been saying that for years!

For most people 5 fruit and veg a day is often a struggle (particularly if they eat fast food and ready meals)  10... is an impossibility.   So it seems obvious that juicing is an easy and delicious solution.

But for some reason that I really can't work out, according to the 'experts' a freshly extracted juice can only be counted as one portion because of the lack of fibre!

So yet again, 'experts' are giving us confusing information! The nutrients contained in fruits and veg are beneficial to health, yet it's good for you but only with the fibre...Why? 

Juices still contain soluble fibre. And the insoluble fibre you lose when juicing is indigestible and only used by the body to push the poop out, actually the insoluble fibre works the same way...(Ok enough information!) 

So...as we don't digest the fibre it seems common sense that it isn't where we get our nutrition from.  If it was then why bother with fruit and veg, just munch your way through 10 bowls of bran flakes!

So I'm counting all the fruit and veg in my juices as well as my meals.

My fruit and veg count for today... 

breakfast: pineapple, mango, banana 

lunch:  spinach, lettuce, mixed salad leaves, avocado,                        olives, tomatoes

dinner: chiles,onions, red peppers,sugar snap peas,ginger

This was my delicious blended breakfast juice:
mango, pineapple, banana and coconut water...
delicious!

Juicing just makes having your 10 and eating them soooo easy!

    

Diets DON'T work!

Finally figured it out ..and now the finish line is in sight!

Ok, so I'm sure most people would have figured this out  (weigh) way before now! But I've finally had my lightbulb  moment! Yaay! 

Diets don't work, because ... of..., 'diet mentality.'  I read somewhere that by the time most women reach mid forties early fifties, they've probably gone on 62 diets!!  Diets are obviously not working!

Most people go on a diet to lose weight, quite often health is an afterthought.  The weekend before going on a diet we usually eat like there is about to be a famine.

  I always (I've been on a lot of diets!) used to eat a huge portion of fish and chips with slabs of bread and butter, or an Indian with all the sides, onion bhajis, samosas, naan bread, chapatis, poppadoms etc. Then round it off with a couple of bars of chocolate. 

The reason we do this is because, most of us are already resigned to the fact, that for the next few weeks, months, or even years..yikes... the food we like will be restricted; if eaten at all.  We're expecting that from now, until we complete the diet, we can't eat the food we'd like to eat, because it's fattening and only through deprivation can we achieve the weight we desire. 

We've already visualised all the social and family occasions when we're going to be miserable and hungry because we can't join in. So we grit are teeth and decide to apply willpower...this time we will do it!

No wonder we want quick fixes and shortcuts, we just want the scale to show the magic number (whatever that might be?) so we can go back to eating all those goodies that began the weight problem in the first place. So we're easy prey for all the latest diet fads out there... it's no secret that the 'diet industry', is a billion dollar industry

It's no surprise then that  many of us fall off the waggon, long before the size 10/12 dress zips up the back without stretching. Or even, we reach our goal only to gain weight again within a few short months, as we tuck into all the sugary foods we've missed while on 'the diet'!  Often we end up regaining more than we lost in the first place...

My lightbulb moment, was when my sister mentioned the usual comments from her friends when she opted for fruit, rather than the highly processed, fat laden, sugary alternative snacks.  'Oh you're so good!'

No...  she's not being 'good'  She's choosing what's good for her.  Oh, and she loves fruit...it's sweet, delicious and packed full of nutrients.

So really it's all about HEALTH and what's good and delicious and satisfying for ME and my body...because I choose health!

So roll on, avocadoes, bananas, strawberries, mangoes nuts, goats cheese,coconut oil, roasted peppers etc.(just to mention some of my favourites.)

'Deliciously Ella's' coconut and banana porridge

 with toasted almonds, a really yummy breakfast!

There is so much choice out there. Delicious wholesome, satiating food and creating delicious meals out of them is a whole new adventure...

Why do we automatically 'outsource' our healthcare to the medical profession and should we?

Doctors, dieticians the experts in health or the experts in disease!?

As soon as there is a sign or symptom of ill health, WHY do most people make a doctor's appointment? Ok, so we want to know if the ache, the pain, the rash indicates something not right...fairly obvious it does.  But do we really want to be prescribed pills or potions? 

No, we just want advice as to how to put our bodies right...don't we? Maybe it's just me but I've never, ever been asked about my diet.  Even when I suddenly developed a red itchy rash on  my hands, thumb and finger, I was just prescribed cream after cream, none of them worked,  they didn't even take the itching out.

Oh and this was the doctor at my practice who was deemed the 'expert' in skin diseases.  His diagnosis, eczema and I'd have it for life.  I just needed to apply a steroid cream whenever it flared up! Plus he warned me against applying it too liberally because of the side effects.

In all fairness he was an 'expert' his medical training made him able to diagnose the rash, and also to know the current medical treatment for it. The only problem was he had little or no knowledge of the links of food/diet, to health. 

Consequently, he asked me about the symptoms I was experiencing, looked at the rash under a magnifying glass BUT never talked about diet and nutrition.  At the time I was eating quite a lot of processed food, not to mention the odd take away!  

I'm not knocking the medical profession,currently my husband's health is helped by the medication prescribed, well it's keeping him alive. BUT...

What if... all those years ago when he was first diagnosed with diabetes type 2, instead of  being told it was a progressive disease with the implication there was nothing that could be done, his diet had been looked at. 
What if... instead of the dietary advice given (which was the NHS healthy eating plate , now shown to be flawed) He had eaten whole grains, lots of veg and fruit, cutting out completely refined sugars and low fat products and brought his sugars under control  years earlier (They're under control now due to a change of diet)
Maybe...he would never have developed heart disease he certainly wouldn't have suffered from leg ulcers!

We can't prove this... but I think it's about time that Doctors and dieticians training adhered more to Hippocrates who famously said:

       Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

While waiting for change (and we have to remember the part pharmaceutical companies have in this.  After all it's a booming industry!)  Surely, we could all help ourselves by looking at what we eat. It makes sense to me that if we continually feed our bodies food depleted of nutrients and filled with toxins, eventually our bodies will break down. 

Digestive problems, rashes, fatigue, headaches, are warning bells, like a flashing red light on the dashboard of your car.  Our bodies are trying to get us to pay attention and do something about it!  

As for me, I do not have eczema anymore since I radically changed my diet and after yesterday's foray into the world of junk food, I'm feeling much better now... juicing my way back!!

This super little juice is from Jason Vale's 5:2 cookbook. He calls it, 'Tumeric Temptation' I'd rename it, 'Tumeric Restoration'...as it's delicious and very soothing on my gut.

So easy to make:

1 apple

1 good sized pear

2 carrots

1 lime peeled but with the pith on 

and 30 cm of turmeric (or a large pinch)

Everything gets juiced (if using dried turmeric just stir in to the juice)

Pour over ice and let it do it's thing....mmmm!

I'll NEVER go back to eating JUNK food ...and this is why!

Ate Junk suffering the after effects!

Went out with the local WI today for our regular monthly lunch to the 'Fickle Mermaid.'

Company great... but food...yuk!

I tried to pick a healthy option, so I opted for beetroot,

mascarpone and pomegranate tart with side salad. This was listed as a lite bite but still a main NOT a starter! 

 When it arrived it was obviously shop bought so who knows what ingredients were in it.  It was also miniscule... Ok no big deal, because I'm really into salads and can quite easily have salad as my main meal.

One problem the salad consisted of 6 limp lettuce leaves, (looked like something lurking at the bottom of your  fridge salad drawer, which you would throw away!)

This is the salad remains untouched on my plate

 because it was so unappetising

Now I was really really starving and I made the mistake of having dessert.  It's not the sort of place to have a 'healthy' dessert. So I chose chocolate and pecan pie. I literally had 3 spoonfuls and I had to leave it, so, so sweet it was sickly.

I paid up and came home literally an hour later started to have pains that in the past I would have associated with IBS, another hour, stomach cramps, bloated  and since then spending a lot of time in the loo. (Ok...maybe too much information1)

So the only thing I've done differently today is eaten  high HI  (Human Intervention) foods, for the first time since I began changing my diet with Jason Vale's Big January Clean Up.

Feeling very sorry for myself between trips to the loo and drinking boiled water.

Will have a juicing day tomorrow (although it's not scheduled) and get back on track!

Almond milk amazingly easy to make!

Smoothies made with almond milk...delish!

Have just had a delicious Saturday smoothie.                                 

Ingredients: 

                     a handful of strawberries 

                     a handful of blueberries

                     2 juicy dates

                     half a banana

                     250 mls of fresh almond milk

                     ice cubes

All just blended together for about 30 seconds then enjoy!

Since I've discovered how to make almond milk I've not bought anymore overpriced sweetened supermarket almond milk. 

All you have to do is put a handful of raw almonds in a bowl covered with water(tap water is fine)  Leave this over night and the almonds  swell. Drain and rinse then place in a blender with 500mls filtered water. Blend for about a minute, then pour the milk through a sieve into a jug. 
The jug will fill very quickly with delicious creamy almond milk.

Discard the residue in the sieve.  Literally takes minutes in the kitchen, I make it while boil the kettle for my herbal tea.
This will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. I also use it on homemade granola.

          

Cannot believe HOW much I'm enjoying veggie food!!

No I've not become vegan or veggie...I love fish too much, but ...       

I can't believe how much I'm enjoying the taste and variety of veggie dishes.  
Two that have been amazing are 1. Pureed pea and mint risotto with parmesan cheese and balsamic. This is not only delicious, creamy and hugely filling,but also very economical

 It consists of arborio rice, stock, salt and pepper,red onion, peas, creme fraiche and parmesan cheese . Such simple ingredients most of them part of my staples.




2. Courgetti veggie bolognese, this has sun dried tomatoes and garlic and basil in the sauce, absolutely fabulous!!

More surprising I didn't miss the meat or pasta at all. It was very filling without that bloated feeling which pasta can often produce.


These recipes were all courtesy of Jason Vale from his 'Super fast Food' cookbook. (See my review)  http://healthwisemyjourney.blogspot.co.uk/p/bo.html

Then for the evening meal tonight I made black bean and kidney bean chile courtesy of a recipe from 'Deliciously Ella' (See my review)  http://healthwisemyjourney.blogspot.co.uk/p/deliciously-ella-rev.html

This was a hearty, warming and satisfying meal.

Particularly on a freezing cold winter's evening, like tonight. Simply black beans,red kidney beans, grated carrot, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree and garlic. I added some shallot onions, and the whole lot took approximately 15 mins. Served with basmati and wild rice and a little grated parmesan ...delicious!  I'm definitely going to continue eating far more veggie meals in the future.

Media rant

 Jason Vale's juice programme gave me the boost I needed, that's why...

Sometimes I get really, really fed up with the outdated 'advice' that is broadcast on TV as fact.  E.g on 'Rip off Britain' there was a whole slot dedicated to the fact that coconut oil is not good for you, because of the high saturated fat content compared to other oils.

In fact, Coconut oil is high in natural saturated fats. Saturated fats not only increase the healthy cholesterol (known as HDL) in your body, but also help to convert the LDL “bad” cholesterol into good cholesterols. By Increasing the HDL's in the body, it helps promote heart health, and lower the risk of heart disease. 

I really thought that the media and medical profession were finally catching up with the fact that it's not FAT that makes you fat or gives you heart disease it's SUGAR, specifically refined sugars. 

Yes that's sugar in your cup of tea, but it's also hidden in most processed food, even low fat products (if they don't contain sugar they have  artificial sweeteners with all the detrimental effects they have on health!) Also carbs pasta,rice, potatoes etc. which is speedily converted to glucose and then if there's an excess stored as FAT!

Then we have the 'Good morning' programme relegating 'Juice diets' to the realm of 'fad' diets. With members of the medical profession advocating these views even going as far as to say it will ultimately lead to weight gains!! 

That's enough to send any yo yo dieter back to the biscuit tin. I know, I was one! Yes, if after finishing a juicing programme you return to the 'crap' you were eating before...YOU WILL PUT WEIGHT ON. But that's the same with any eating programme, Slimming world, Weight watchers, LCHF, ask any yo yo dieter.  

There's even evidence to show that people who've had gastric surgery, are able to put weight on by liquidising the cheeseburger and chips or the double chocolate gateau.

Not only are these programmes irresponsibly based on outdated facts, they're also biased as there is no alternative viewpoint from those who've had success (not only in losing weight but also in regaining health) invited onto the programme to give their viewpoint. 

For me following the Jason Vale juicing programme, gave me the boost I needed, I've lost my taste for processed food,I now choose not to have the chocolate bar or the ice cream, not because I'm 'being good' but because I genuinely don't want them!!

Glad I got that off my chest...so much better than yelling at the TV from the living room!  

Weigh in and weight off!!

3lbs weight loss yaay! 

Thrilled that I'm eating delicious low HI food and losing weight! Since the 2nd week of January I've lost 11lbs so only 2 lbs to go to my first stone.

I have noticed that my weight loss is showing in my neck, which I'm not too happy about. But as my sister once said it's either a 'scraggy neck or a fat bum.' I think I'll go for the 'scraggy neck' and just invest in lots of lovely new scarves (I love scarves and any excuse...!) 

Today, I had a pear avocado and basil juice for breakfast.

Lunch was Jason Vale's sweet cherry and roast pepper soup.  This is a fabulous soup and so easy to make. 

 Just roast a red and yellow pepper, chopped red onion, 2 crushed garlic cloves and 12 sweet cherry tomatoes with olive oil drizzled over them, for 15 minutes.  

Then cook in a pint of vegetable stock. (I use Kallo because it's organic with no additives.) for 10 minutes on simmer. Then blend and serve. 

You won't find this soup recipe in Jason's 'Super fast Food' cookbook, but it's easy to find on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWidL1che2Q

Then the evening meal is Jason's salmon marinated in soy sauce, chile and ginger with noodles. This is definitely my favourite dish out of Jason's 'Super fast Food'.  It's so quick and simple to cook and absolutely delicious!!

I just marinade the salmon in ginger, chile, soy sauce and honey, in the morning and leave it in the fridge. About twenty minutes before I want to eat I chop the spring onions and red pepper.  Then I fry spring onions and a red pepper in the wok until soft then add the drained salmon to the wok. It takes about 5-6 minutes to cook. The marinade is reserved and when the noodles are cooked they are covered in the marinade, this takes 3-4 minutes to cook the noodles. The salmon and the noodles in marinade combined is gorgeous, and every single mouthful releases bursts of flavour, yummy.

Day 2 week 2 Jason Vale's 5:2 diet

Juices

Day two has gone amazingly well, can't believe I cooked cod, chips and peas for my husband and was not tempted tp pinch one chip! The thing about Jason's juices are even if it's not amazingly delicious it still tastes good. Also there is lots of variety. Couldn't believe yesterday there was one with chile and ginger definitely packed a punch!

Today's breakfast juice was delicious, banana, blueberries, goji berries and coconut water...yummy.  Last juice today was beetroot, apple, pear, lemon and strawberries absolutely amazing. 

I seem to be getting the hang of my Fusion Juicer (see problems in my review) http://healthwisemyjourney.blogspot.co.uk/p/fusion-jucer.html   I'm still chopping apples in half, but have managed to sandwich leafy greens between the two halves. everything else, pears, beetroot, lemons, just whizz through compared to my previous juicer.  So much faster, brilliant!

I'm really getting into cooking things from scratch and today made Ella's cinnamon granola , from her cookbook 'Deliciously Ella' it made loads and is now stored in a huge air tight container.    Looking forward to eating this with strawberries and blueberries and some gorgeous almond milk. 

I can't believe how easy almond milk is to make and so much tastier than the shop bought varieties. Just soak a handful of raw almonds in water overnight. The next day drain and then put in a blender with 500mls of filtered water and blend for about a minute. Then strain into a jug. It's supposed to keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, but I've never had it that long so can't really vouch for that.

So much energy these days, even cooking and preparing food in the evening. This is such a change, normally I slump on the settee after the evening meal and don't want to budge even to make a brew. 

With renewed energy and a new interest in cooking (which had become a chore) I'm loving this new way of eating!!