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!!

5:2 diet end of week 1

Moving on from thinking to doing...

Made a decision that I was no longer going to dip my toe into the water, but I was going to plunge right in at the deep end.  So Saturday saw  a massive purge of my kitchen cupboards, out went bags of wheat flour, white pasta, sauces and packet mixes... even the 3 remaining Mr. Kipling cherry Bakewells! 

Then using the now empty storage jars I filled up with the 'new staples' buckwheat flour, quinoa, chia seeds, goji berries, dates etc. 

Then down to cooking and trying out my new recipes. Saturday, veggie bolognese and courgetti., from Jason Vale's 'Super fast Food' 

(See my review) at  Jason Vale Super fast Food

potato and cauliflower curry delicious

Then spent today cooking from Deliciously Ella, (see my review) at  Deliciously-Ella  

potato and cauliflower curry, followed by avocado and chocolate mousse, both recipes were delicious and made Sunday's meal feel special. 

Loving the food, just hoping for weight loss and improved health.

Feeling good and eating delicious food

So far sooo good!

Continuing juicing, yesterday and today.  Really enjoying this way of eating, definitely have far more energy. 

Yesterday was a long day at the hospital with my husband.  The time before I'd been exhausted the day after, but this time I slept well and felt great when I woke up.  

Today had Jason Vale's 'antioxidant king' juice amazon.co.uk

and  having his salmon and cheesy garlic mash for lunch all found in his  'Super fast Food'  book which I got online from Amazon



See my review
                                           http://healthwisemyjourney.blogspot.co.uk/p/bo.html