Category Archive for ‘Food’

Have you ever found yourself stuck in the rut of eating the same uninspiring foods over and over again while at the same time feeling helpless about how you are going to breack the cycle? If so, I hear you. I call it food mood and I’ve been there.

This depressing condition is characterized by a lack of creativity, enthusiasm and appreciation about food and eating in general that causes you to :

• Skip meals and then feel ravenous and binge on whatever cross your path
• Avoid cooking and heavily rely on processed, pre packaged foods
• Order or take away less than ideal meals more and more often
• Feeling depressed, drained and guilty because all of the above resulting in MORE of the above

You’ve got the picture, feeling trapped there really sucks.

More often than not, food boredom is the body’s attempt to stand in the way of all the unfavorable stuff  overflowing it. Take it as a cry for renewal : deep down you crave live, clean and nutritious food.

Beyond nutritional needs, food boredom is also often a good indicator that you find your life,well… boring. Maybe it is time to do a reality check and take a good look at all the other areas of your life : work, social, intimacy, creativity, movement and exercising, spirituality, play. Generaly speaking food mood will show its ugly head when we got caught up in our daily crazy pace and lost the fun along the way.
When is the last time that you have done something just for the joy of it? You laughed at a silly joke? You went away for the weekend to see new things? Figure it out and do it! You’ll be glad you did

There are several things you can do to get out of the junk zone and rekindle your joy for food and life:

•  Try to start your day with a juice or smoothie first thing : tell yourself you can still have your latte with 2 doughnuts afterwards, but I bet you won’t feel that excited about it. Even if you still must have one, it is one less in your system, call it a victory.
• After a week of that, try a whole detox day : more juices and smoothies, fresh salads and lean protein ( don’t restrcit yourself, your aim is not to lose weight but cleanse your system and palate)
• Go to your local bookshop and browse cookbooks. Let yourself be inspired by the pictures and the way ingredients are creatively mixed together
• Ask several of your friends to share one of their favourite recipes and cook every single one : if you ask 7 friends, that’s a whole meal plan for the week
• Seek out company : Have friends over for dinner, get invited, go out for lunch with colleagues
• Take a cooking class 
• Go shopping at your nearest health food shop and buy something you’ve never tried before
• Visit the local market in search of a new fruit or veggie
• Saturate your mind with raw food and/or cooking videos on YouTube
• The upcoming weekend, go to an organic café for a brunch with your girlfriends

You may discover a new way to use some very familiar ingredients, find a taste for a food you’d never tried before and gain your creative mojo back in the process !

Imagine than within days you will have forgotten the old, exhausted, lifeless, toxic you ! ( and you’ll be like : Who, me?)

I don’t know about you, but as winter is slowly ending and making room for the rejuvenating energy of spring, I am naturally feeling the need to get more life into my plate.

I know we may be not there yet, but since I am slowly but surely losing interest for soups and stews, I think now is the ideal time to switch back to a highly raw diet I usually thrive on on warmer days and to share with you how I prepare myself for it.

This post is not about how to become a raw foodist. This topic is too big and controversial to cover in a single post, so I will simply share some of my favourite tips that we can all apply right now to add more energy into our lives and into our bodies.

1 – For breakfast, try green smoothies or freshly made juices

Would you be interested in:

• increasing your daily fruit and vegetable intake effortlessly
•  feeling a lot more energetic AND relaxed
• reducing or eliminating your late morning or afternoon sugar cravings ?

Well, starting your day with a smoothie or a vegetable juice  will help you do just that.

For optimal digestion and assimilation chew well ( yes, I mean your smoothie or juice ) and eat slow-ly.

Internet is an endless source of inspiration. You will find countless green or fruit smoothie recipes out there. Alternatively, if you are like me and love simplicity, here are a few basic and delicious recipes to get you started.

The amount of green is about two big handfuls. Put the leaves first into the blender with a little water to help start the blending process and then add the remaining ingredients. You can use more greens as you get accustomed to the taste.  For a frothy and refreshing drink, throw a few ice cubes and blend well.

Spinach + 1 banana + 1 orange + 1 tsp flaxseed oil
Lamb’s lettuce + 1 orange+ 1 kiwi +1 tbsp almond butter
Spinach +1 raw red beet, peeled + 1 date + 1 chopped apple
Lettuce +10 cherry tomatoes + ½ bell pepper + 1/2 avocado+ 1/4 red onion

If you soon find yourself craving more greens and fruit, don’t be surprised. It is your body’s way to tell you it is hungry for vitamins and minerals. Do as it says!

If you want more proteins, you can :

Add some directly to your smoothie

• Nut butter or nut milk
• Protein powder . My favourite : a high quality rice protein powder ( Source naturals, Sun Warrior) very easy to digest and assimilate by the body. Not recommend soy ( can lead to hormonal imbalances in some people), nor whey powder : made from cow milk. apart from promoting constipation, its high concentration in lactose makes it tolerated by even less people than just milk
• ground chia, hemp or flax seeds. All are very interesting additions that contain high quality proteins and omega 3.

Have raw or non-raw protein in addition to the smoothie or juice:

• Trail mix
• Yogurt
• Hard boiled egg, smoked salmon or cheese on toast or rice cakes.

Avoiding the sugar crash

If you are rather sensitive to sugar, you should definitely prefer smoothies over fruit juice: fibers being still present in a smoothie, they allow sugars to be released more slowly into your system, thus preventing the insulin spike that fruit juice can cause.
Of course vegetable juices are all fine (and delicious !). If you have diabetes, go for those ( avoid carrot), along with vegetable-only green smoothies.

2- Snack on raw

The other meal easy to tweak since, like breakfast, it is more of an individual one.

A few suggestions :

- a handful of cranberries, almonds and pumpkin seeds
- apple slices with peanut butter
- fresh corn on the knob ( incredibly delicious, way better than cooked in my opinion)
- avocado on Essene bread
- non-dairy chocolate pudding ( blend 1 medium ripe avocado, 1 banana, 6 drop vanilla essence,1 to 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, honey, adding a hint of nut milk to achieve desired consistency)
- fruit salad and sunflower seeds

3 – Have a salad at every meal

I am not talking about the boring 3-green-leaves-on-the-side thing, here. Make it a real, appealing dish and be creative. Don’t be afraid to mix fruits and veggies.

- spinach and strawberries with balsamic vinegar dressing
- lamb’s lettuce with juicy oranges, goji berries and silvered almonds
- lettuce with pineapple and cherry tomatoes with olive oil, apple cider vinegar and a little honey.

Substituting some mashed ripe avocado and lime or lemon juice for a traditional dressing will give a gourmet twist to the most basic salad.
Possibilities are endless!

4- Add raw vegetables in your cooked meals

Throw grated vegetables in your stir fry or soup just before serving. Put a few leaves in your omelet. It will add more nutrition to the dish as well as a pleasant crunchy side.

5- Buy seasonal

Let the seasons dictate what you eat, not your meal planner or your shopping list. The fact that we live in a world where we can find virtually any type of fruit or vegetable all year around is not necessarily a good thing. When it comes to taste and nutritional value, fruit and vegetable cultivated and harvested off season will never reach their full potential. A vegetable that “ripen” in a truck or in a ripening room can lose up to 70% of the vitamins and minerals it is supposed to provide in its optimal state.

So eat seasonal ! It’s fresher, tastier and more nutritious.

6- Build yourself an easy raw recipe folder

Raw food is not about boring green salads with no dressing. Look up for recipes and blogs to harvest new ideas and get inspired to come up with your own creations. Have fun in the kitchen! Make meal preparation a mindfulness practice.

You will be surprised how big a difference you can make within your overall well being just by adding a little more raw fruit and vegetables here and there every time you get the chance.

Here is a recipe from my mother who is a fine cook, always in the lookout for new flavours and fragrances.

She got inspired from various recipes that were all missing a little something for her taste . She made her own ajustements et voila! The perfect soup just came out of all her experiments. Her version is ridiculously delicious , with a perfect balance of aromas. Needless to say it has become a family favourite !

You will need :

• 1 handful of rehydrated black chinese mushrooms, prepared as per package directions
• Half a red pepper, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 l homemade chicken or vegetable broth or made of 1 l water + 1 organic stock cube
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp coconut, soy or sunflower oil
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves
• 1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 150 g of one of the following : tempeh, meat crab, shrimps or chicken breast
• 25 cl coconut milk
• 100 to 150 g of rice or soy noodles
• 1 bunch of fresh coriander leaves

Heat oil in large cooking pot. Add red pepper, garlic and ginger. Reduce heat and cook until soft, stirring constantly. Add turmeric.
Cut tempeh or chicken into thin strips or drain seafood if canned. Add  in pot along with coconut milk ans mushrooms. Add broth and simmer for about 20 minutes or until 80% cooked.
Add noodles and soy sauce.Cook for another 5 minutes

Just before serving,chop coriander leaves and throw into simmering soup.

This warm, nutritious soup will satisfy any hunger . It is very comforting thanks to its full, creamy taste. It can be a meal on its own ( for stronger appetites, just add more noodles). Served in smaller bowls, it makes for an original starter.

When I discovered Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wa) a few years ago, it instantly became one of my favorite grains. Well, technically it’s not a grain but the seed of a leafy plant related to spinach. Quinoa is highly nutritious and contains one of the best non animal proteins. In fact various studies rate the quality of quinoa protein to be equivalent or slightly superior to that found in milk products.
Below, a delicious alternative to traditionnal oatmeal.

Quinoa porridge

( in bold text is my favourite combination)

• 1 cup Quinoa, rinsed, soaked and drained
• 2 cups water or any milk of your choosing * or a mix of water and milk
• Then according to your taste, several or all of the following
• 1/2 c. dried fruit – raisins, cranberries, goji berries
• 1/4 c. fresh or frozen fruit – berries e.g blueberries, kiwifruit , banana
• 1 tbsp almonds or pecan, sliced
• Honey or agave nectar (optional)

Place quinoa and water in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce to medium heat and simmer until all the water is absorbed ( about 15 minutes). Add fruit and nuts, sweeten to taste and serve.
Note: It is important to rinse Quinoa under running water prior to cooking. It helps to remove saponins (substances that can give quinoa a rather bitter taste).

*Dairy, soy, almond, coconut, hemp milk…