All posts by Kate

Golden Root Vegetable Curry

Gluten-Free, Main Meal, Recipes, Vegan, , , , , , , ,

This is my favourite curry recipe at the moment! It is so delicious! And perfect to warm up on a cold day! I use white basmati rice as I have read recently that it is easier to digest than brown rice and I find it is much nicer in curries!

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Serves 3

Ingredients

1tbsp              Coconut Oil

1                     Red Onion

1                     Garlic Clove

1inch               Fresh Root Ginger

80g                  Mushrooms

1tsp                 Mustard Seeds

1tsp                 Ground Cumin

1tsp                 Ground Coriander

½ tsp               Ground Turmeric

½ tsp               Cayenne Pepper

½ can              Coconut Milk

1000ml            Filtered Water

125g                Red Lentils

100g                Green Beans

200g                Jerusalem Artichoke

1                      Large Carrot

1                      Small Sweet Potato

75g                  Basmati Rice (per portion)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Put the Jerusalem artichoke, carrot and sweet potato on a baking tray. Pierce all over with a fork so the skins do not burn. Place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes.

While the root vegetables are roasting, melt the coconut oil in a large saucepan on a low heat. Chop up the red onion, mushrooms and root ginger and add to the pan. Sizzle the onions and add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add in the chopped garlic and spices and stir.

Now pour in half a can of coconut milk. Fill the pan with around 700ml water and bring to the boil. Add in the chopped green beans and red lentils. Simmer for at least 20 minutes.

When the root vegetables are cooked, chop them into cubes and add to the pan.

Next pour around 300ml of water into a small pan. Bring to the boil and add the basmati rice. Simmer for 10 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Keep the rice in the pan with the lid on to stay warm until ready to serve.

Scoop the curry sauce onto a plate next to the rice. Serve warm. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free, Vegan Quinoa & Brown Rice Pancakes

Gluten-Free, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan, , , , , , , ,

Happy Pancake Day everyone! Today I’m going to be making my quinoa and brown rice pancakes which are gluten-free and vegan! The almond milk replaces the dairy milk and the flaxseed binds the mixture instead of the eggs!

Quinoa & Brown Rice Pancakes

Makes 6Strawberry Pancakes

75g                 Quinoa

75g                 Brown rice

1tbsp              Desiccated coconut

1tbsp              Flaxseed

1tbsp              Agave nectar

300ml             Almond Milk

300ml             Filtered Water

If you have a Vitamix blender, pour in the quinoa and rice and blend until it has formed a fine flour. Alternatively you can cook the quinoa in filtered water for 15 minutes and brown rice for 40 minutes and then place them in the blender.

Add the desiccated coconut, flaxseed, agave nectar, almond milk and water to the blender. Mix until it has formed a liquid batter.

Heat a small pan over a low heat. Pour in enough batter to form a medium sized pancake.

Cook for about 2 minutes until there are bubbles throughout the surface and you can easily peel away the pancake from the pan. Flip over and cook for another 2 minutes until golden brown. Pile the pancakes on top of each other on a plate.

Add a fruit topping of your choice such as sliced banana, strawberries or raspberries. Drizzle with agave nectar and lemon juice. Delicious served with spoonfuls of nut butter.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Valentine’s Day Treats

Articles, Desserts, Gluten-Free, Recipes, Vegan, , , , , , , ,

Happy Valentine’s Day! <3 <3

This is a special day to spend with your loved one appreciating what you have together. Or if you are single you can treat yourself to show yourself how much you love and appreciate yourself!

Why not indulge in my delicious Chocolate Snowballs this Valentine’s Day! Or share a bowl of my dreamy Cashew & Banana Ice Cream!

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Foods for The Throat Chakra

Articles, Chakra Balancing, Health, Therapies, , , , , ,

Your chakras are seven energy centres which govern certain areas of your body. When they are open and spinning at at the right speed, we have vibrant health and all areas of our life work well. When they are closed or underactive, we get illnesses and problems in areas of our life such as finances, relationships, self-esteem etc.

The throat chakra governs communication and is about speaking your truth and expressing yourself.

People who are quiet with low self-esteem who do not speak up for themselves often have a closed throat chakra. This can stem from being told off for expressing their true self as a child and being taught to conform and behave in a certain way. It is important to open the throat chakra and find your voice in order to communicate our thoughts and feelings and have healthy relationships.

To open it, practice speaking up for yourself to the right person at the right moment. Activities such as singing are helpful to open your throat chakra. Foods to stimulate the throat chakra include drinks especially water, juices, smoothies, fruits, soups, sauces and sea vegetables.

Recipes for the throat chakra include:P1010161

Smoothies & Drinks

Lemon Juice in Water
Tropical Pineapple & Mango Smoothie
Green Smoothie
Vegan Mango Lassi

Fruit

Summer Fruit Salad

Soups

Carrot & Coriander SoupP1000048
Green Pea & Mung Bean Soup

Sea Vegetables

Nori Rolls

 

References:
Minich, D. (2009). Chakra Foods for Optimum Health. United States of America: Conari Press

Veggie Cakes

Gluten-Free, Main Meal, Recipes, Vegan, , , , , , , , , ,

Veggie Cakes

These delicious veggie cakes are a treat to have for a main meal! They are a combination of savoury pancakes, scones and veggie burgers! They are also a great way of using up any leftover vegetables you have in the fridge!

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Makes 12

Ingredients

1tbsp              Coconut Oil

1                      Small Red Onion

1                      Garlic Clove

80g                 Mushrooms

1                      Carrot

1/2                  Sweet Potato

Handful          Spinach

75g                  Quinoa

75g                  Brown Rice

1tbsp               Desiccated Coconut

1tbsp               Ground Flaxseed

500ml              Almond Milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C. Bake the sweet potato for 45 minutes.

Now prepare the batter. Add the quinoa, brown rice, desiccated coconut, flaxseed and almond milk to the Vitamix blender. Blend on full power for 30 seconds.

Next, melt the coconut oil in a hot pan. Add the chopped onion and sliced mushrooms. Fry for a few minutes. Add the finely chopped carrot. Lastly add the chopped garlic, cooked sweet potato cut into cubes and the handful of spinach. Now add the cooked vegetables into the batter in the blender. Mix with a spoon.

I use a specialised pancake pan with 4 moulds to cook 4 veggie cakes, but you can add spoonfuls of the mixture to a hot pan to cook. Add 2 dessert spoonfuls of the batter mix to the hot pan, cooking 4 veggie cakes at a time. Cook for 5 minutes on one side then flip over and cook for another 5 minutes or until golden brown on each side. Place the cooked veggie cakes on a plate then cook 4 more.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Store in the fridge and eat within 3-4 days.

Lemon in Water

Recipes, Smoothies & Drinks, , , , , , , ,

It is important to drink enough water everyday to stay fresh and hydrated! Our body is 90% water. The recommended daily amount is 1500-2500ml which is about 3-5x 500ml glasses of water, juices or smoothies! Drinking water is also fantastic for detoxing and gives you radiant, clear skin!

Every morning I like to have a refreshing glass of lemon juice squeezed into water.P1010161

The benefits of this include:

  • Rehydrates you first thing in the morning
  • Stimulates liver detoxification
  • Stimulates your digestive juices before breakfast
  • Activates your root, solar plexus and throat chakras.

Note: Lemon is acidic and if drunk daily in the long-term it may cause tooth erosion. It is best to drink it through a straw to avoid contact with the teeth.

Ingredients

500ml Filtered water

1/2 Lemon

Method

Pour yourself a glass of water.

Cut a lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the water, making sure to catch the seeds!

Enjoy your refreshing drink!

Personality of People with ME/CFS

Articles, Health, ME/CFS, , , , ,

People who are ill with ME/CFS tend to be workaholics and overachievers. They think their self-worth is determined by how much they do and what they achieve. That mentality means you neglect your needs such as food, water, sleep and time to relax and leads to burn out and chronic fatigue. This is what happened with me.

ME/CFS sufferers are often keen to get back to work as soon as possible and are not keen to take the time needed to rest and heal. All their lives they have worked hard to prove to themselves that they are good enough. They were brainwashed at school that they are only as good as their grades. They often had workaholic parent or parents who criticised them a lot so they worked hard to get their approval by being overachievers. This behaviour continued into adulthood. They are perfectionists who never feel good enough, despite achieving more that most people.

I know that I am a workaholic who finds it hard to relax. I have to make time in my busy schedule for relaxation including meditation, yoga and walking in nature on a daily basis in order to stay healthy.

Ways to relax include:

  • Sleeping
  • Taking a nap
  • Meditation
  • Reading a book
  • Walking outside in nature
  • Sitting and watching the sky
  • Mindfulness
  • Epsom salt bath
  • Massage
  • Listening to relaxation music
  • Patting a pet
  • Aromatherapy
  • Sitting in the sunshine
  • Focusing on the breath

I only started to heal when I accepted I could no longer work and do as much as I used to do. When I let go of validating myself by societies high standards and just be myself. It is enough to just be.

The information in this post is my opinion and stems from my experiences with ME/CFS. I know many other people with ME/CFS who also had this tendency to push themselves too hard before they got ill.

How to Create a Vision Board

Articles, Manifesting, , , , , ,

January is a great time to set your goals and intentions for the coming year. A fun and powerful way to manifest your dreams is to create a vision board.P1000378

A vision board is a display of images of your dreams that you can hang on your wall. It works by embedding the images into your subconscious mind everytime you see it and you begin to subconsciously attract those things into your life.

Here is my step-by-step guide on how to make a vision board:

  1. Buy an art canvas or you can glue a piece of paper onto cardboard.
  2. Go on the internet and search for images of things you would like to create in your life such as vibrant health, a loving relationship, a new car, a future career, a house, a holiday etc. You can also write out positive affirmations and key words such as success, abundance, relax, joy etc.
  3. Copy and paste the images into a word document.
  4. Print them out.
  5. Cut them out.
  6. Arrange them on the board.
  7. Stick them in place with blue tack.
  8. Hang the board on the wall in room you use regularly. I have mine hanging on my bedroom wall.

Now you can watch you dreams manifest into reality! It won’t happened instantaneously and you may forget about your vision board then look at it one day and realise that one of the images is part of your reality! That is when you can take the picture off your board and replace it with an image of a new goal.

I wish you the best for the coming year and hope all your dreams come true!

Cooking for the Root Chakra

Articles, Chakra Balancing, Health, Therapies, , , , , , , , , ,

Your chakras are seven energy centres which govern certain areas of your body. When they are open and spinning at at the right speed, we have vibrant health and all areas of our life work well. When they are closed or underactive, we get illnesses and problems in areas of our life such as finances, relationships, self-esteem etc.

The root chakra governs survival and security in the world. It relates to basis survival needs such as food, water, shelter, feeling safe and supported in a community and finances. It spins at a slow, steady rate and is located between the legs in the genital area. It is red in colour.

A lot of illnesses stem from an underactive root chakra such as fatigue, anorexia, malnutrition or inability to deal with stress from not giving your body enough energy in the form of calories and protein. Lack of protein can cause skin problems, depleted immune system and anaemia. Also obesity is a root chakra issue from being so out of touch with your body and it’s signals that you overeat. Men with root issues have sex organ problems.

Here are some tips for cooking for your root chakra:P1010056

  • Cook high protein foods – foods such as meat, quinoa, mushrooms, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds will nourish your root chakra.
  • Get enough calories – I use the dietary analysis software myfitnesspal.com to monitor my calorie intake to ensure I reach my 2000kcal per day and give my body all the resources it needs to function optimally.
  • Get enough calcium for your bones and muscles from dairy, kale, broccoli and chickpeas and iron from meat and green vegetables for your blood.P1000930
  • Cook root vegetables – anything that grows in the earth will nourish your root chakra such as carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips, onions, garlic and ginger.
  • Cook red foods – the colour of the root chakra is red so eating red foods such as strawberries, raspberries, tomato, red onions, red meat will activate it.
  • Eat when you are hungry – respect your body by listening to its’ signals. Eat when you are hungry, stop when you feel full.

You can do this online chakra test to see which of your chakras are out of balance.

Here are some recipes to nourish the root chakra:P1010066

Berry Smoothie

Quinoa Porridge
Quinoa & Brown Rice Pancakes
Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
Vegan Chocolate Muffins

Carrot & Coriander SoupP1000653
Quinoa & Lentil Burgers
Red Lentil Dhal
Red Lentil & Kidney Bean Curry
Roasted Root Vegetable Casserole
Quinoa & Mushroom Risotto

References:
Minich, D. (2009). Chakra Foods for Optimum Health. United States of America: Conari Press

Therapies to Heal ME – Part 3

Articles, Health, ME/CFS, Therapies, , , , , ,

Here is part 3 of Therapies to Heal ME which includes all the therapies that I tried out in 2013 to the present day in an effort to cure my ME, including dates, and my experiences with them:

2013

January

  • Yoga classes – I started attending a local yoga class on a weekly basis as I felt it was more in line with my spirituality than ballroom and latin dancing! It really helped me to relax, stretch out tension and strengthen my muscles. I took classes for a year, then stopped and now I do a short yoga routine every morning to stretch!

February

  • Emotional Scale – I discovered the emotional scale in the book ‘Ask and it is Given’ by Esther and Jerry Hicks. It explains that there is a scale of emotions at different vibrational frequencies. For instance the emotions of grief and anger are low vibrational and appreciation, love and joy are high vibrational. It taught me how to work out which emotional level I am currently feeling and step by step move up through the emotions to the highest level.

April

  • Earthing – Sit in the garden with your bare feet touching the P1000016earth and the connection will drain away the positive electrical charge that has build up in your body from being in close contact with computers, mobile phones, TVs etc. After 30 minutes of earthing I feel so much better and more calm.

July

  • Sprouting – my boyfriend at the time gave me some of his sprouting jars and taught me how to sprouts legumes such as chickpeas. You put the legumes in a sprouting jar and soak them in filtered water overnight to remove the phytates that are hard to digest. Change the water at least once. Then you drain the legumes and leave them to dry. Left on the window sill they will start to sprout and as they do release more nutrients.

September

  • Juicing – my boyfriend let me borrow his juicer and I learned how to juice vegetables. The juice is highly concentrated in nutrients and it gives you a burst of energy!

December

  • Ayurvedic Diet – in Ayurvedic medicine there are 3 doshas or body types called vata, pitta and kapha. I am a vata and have weak digestion so need easily digestible cooked and blended foods to nourish my body. Vatas do well on sweet and sour foods. Pittas have very strong digestion and do well on bitter foods. Kaphas gain weigh easily and do well on raw foods. Eating for your type will give you more energy.

2014

January

  • Inner child healing – involves reconnecting with the child inside of you who wants to play and be loved. When it is ignored and we don’t take time to play, we get depressed. So loving and respecting that little child, we will feel happier and feel more joy in our lives! When I see my inner child she is a baby inside my abdomen who is crying and reaches out to hold my finger for support.

March

  • Daily meditation – I started to meditate every morning for 15 minutes after being inspired by the Abraham Hicks meditation process. This transformed my life and kept me feeling balanced and calm all day. You can read about how to do my light meditation here.

May

  • Epsom Salt Baths – during a consultation at the student clinic, the student nutritionist advised that I take regular Epsom salt baths for relaxation as I was prone to anxiety. I used 1 tbsp of high grade Epsom salt in a bath tub of hot filtered water for 10 minutes twice a week. The magnesium in the salts absorbs through the skin and relaxes the muscles leaving you feeling completely relaxed. It is difficult to get out the bath afterwards!

July

  • Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) – also known as tapping, it is a process of gently tapping specific acupressure points on your face to clear your energy meridians. The process starts with you thinking of a traumatic memory and feeling the intense emotional pain. Then you say the affirmation “Even though I have this feeling, I deeply and completely accept myself” as you tap the specific pressure points. It is a very powerful process as it release blockages in your meridians and leaves you feeling calm and relieved. You can watch a video on The Tapping Solution to show you where the tapping points are located.

September

  • Butekyo Breathing Method – involves using your abdomen to take a small breath in, then a small breath out and holding your breath for a minimum of 5 seconds. This gives your red blood cells time to transport oxygen to all areas of your body. The theory behind this is that we over breath which expels too much carbon dioxide from our body which is the very things that is required to aid oxygen transport around the body. As we build up the amount time between breathes, we experience healing effects such as detoxification as our bodies finally get the oxygen they need to function optimally. I use this technique to calm down my breathing when I get stressed and start to hyperventilate. It is very effective.

October

  • Plastic purge – I came across an article online that said that storing food and drink in plastic containers is harmful as plastic contains endocrine distrupters that leach into the food and reek havoc with our hormones and cause higher levels of oestrogen in the body. Up until then I had been drinking water out of plastic bottles! I immediately threw away the plastic bottles and started drinking filtered water from the tap which is much safer. Cans are lined with plastic and so canned foods also contain the endocrine disrupters! So now I buy bags of dry beans and legumes, soak them, then boil them. Using glass and steel containers instead of plastic is better for the environment as plastic is made from petroleum oil which is meant to be used for lubricating the Earth’s tectonic plates.
  • Adrenal Fatigue Diet – avoiding high sugar foods such as sweet fruits, dates, raisins, bananas and sweeteners keeps you blood sugar level stable and prevents dips during the day which put stress on your adrenals. Other lifestyle factors for adrenal fatigue include reducing exposure to stressful situations, meditation, yoga and walking in nature.

I am still learning and trying new techniques to improve my health today! Currently I am fascinated by Buteyko breathing!

If you have ME/CFS, I hope that these therapy reviews give you some ideas of healing methods you can try out. Everybody is different and what works for one person may not work for someone else. Still in my opinion it is worth trying everything that you feel may help until you find the one that works for you.