Healthy Pancakes

Pancakes are great, aren't they? I like both the savoury and sweet varieties. I remember my mum making the pancakes on Pancake Tuesday. My heart would literally skip a beat when she would toss the pan up towards the ceiling (keeping a hold of it of course) while the now solid pancake batter rose up out of it and did a flip in the air, only to land, seconds later on the reverse side back where it had started...Phew! I seem to have some other vague recollection of one in particularly rising up just a little too far and ending up sticking to the ceiling....Or, is that a scene from some movie I've seen?? Hmmn, that one certainly is food for thought. Even today when I make pancakes, which is quite regularly, my heart still skips a beat right before I toss them in the air in order to turn them onto the other side. Even though I could quite easily use any of a number of kitchen utensils to simply turn it, that just far to boring for me. Being the dramatic type, I love the thrill I get from the flip and manage to get it right almost every time. It really is great fun though altogether, you really should try it..oh, but make sure to have some friends around to add to the thrill....Fabulous!

With Pancake Tuesday just around the corner,  there will be lots of pancakes for sale in supermarkets and available on restaurant menus. If I could give you one piece of advice, particularly if you are shopping for them, it is to take moment to turn the pretty packaging over to have a look at the ingredients they've been made from before you go ahead and wolf down a few. I don't want to be a party pooper, but honestly, if you can't pronounce what's in there, put them back, but if you do recognise what's in there as real food, go right ahead and enjoy them. However, for the more adventurous of you would rather try making their own, healthier version, then here is a gluten and dairy free version that I rather like.

What you'll need...

Basic Pancake Recipe

100g buckwheat flour 

1/4tsp salt

12 Tbps water/milk (preferably non-dairy such as almond, rice, hazelnut, soya)

2 Tbps oil (I use coconut oil for frying, but you can use olive, sunflower or rapeseed)

How to Make

1. Mix flour, salt and milk together and leave to stand for approximately 10 minutes.

2. Then give the batter a stir, add 3 large spoonfuls or more (on thickness of the pancake that you like) of batter  onto a hot oiled pan.

3. Cook until light brown underneath, then turn and cook the other side.

If you would like a richer pancake you can add in 2 or more eggs. I prefer not to, but this is a choice you can make yourself. You can also use plain flour (which will contain gluten) or spelt (which is actually an older and easier to digest form of wheat) flour if you cannot get your hands on buckwheat flour. However, I really recommend that you do buy buckwheat flour in the you health food store and start using it. It is a brilliant substitute for ordinary plain or self raising flour in most recipes. Actually, come to think of it, I think I may have even bought mine in Tescos last time I needed it, so it's really easy to source nowadays. With over 3% of the Irish population being diagnosed as gluten intolerant, get rid of the Odlums from the kitchen and start looking at the alternatives for your and your family.

For my own pancakes (above), I've used the exact recipe provided here. No frills, no fuss.  For my filling I used lemon juice and a produce called  Xyitol, which is a great tasting, excellent and safe sugar alternative, which once again can be found easily in most health food stores. I may have gone a bit over board on the lemon juice, but you don't have to, I just love the taste. Yes, that is icing sugar you are seeing too. I sprinkled some on top, which although not something I usually use, it does make pancakes and sweet delights look ever so pretty and as far as I'm concerned, is perfectly fine to use now and again. If you are sensitive to sugar, diabetic or have been advised to avoid it for any reason, then I suggest you leave it out and decorate with perhaps some desiccated coconut or perhaps some of the other superfoods like mesquite.

I hope you enjoy this basic recipe. They are really simple to prepare and great to eat so get back into the kitchen!

Please also feel free to share with friends who many not know where to begin when it comes to pancake making.

Thanks for reading and happy Pancake Tuesday everyone!

Best wishes,

Ruth.

Valentine's Raw Chocolate Recipe

"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt" Lucy Van Pelt.

This quote speaks loudly to my heart. Perhaps some may consider it indulgent, but I choose to have a small piece of chocolate every day. In fact, I absolutely adore chocolate. It's luxurious, rich taste, and the velvety way it melts in your mouth most definitely leaves me wanting more. In fact, just this very day, I was lucky enough to be asked to judge a chocolate competition taking place in The Happy Pear, Greystones Main Street,  County Wicklow and they couldn't have asked a more willing participant.  If you would like to be in with a chance to win, then get your chocolate entries in, in any way shape of form, on Sunday, 19th Feb before noon. I can't be sure on the prize but I'd hazard a guess, it's something chocolaty!

With Valentine's Day only around the corner, I thought it might be a nice treat to make your own piece of deliciousness at home. I've made sure to give out a simple recipe so that your work in the kitchen will produce a great result in no time. Who wants to spend hours in there with little to show for it! Not me anyway. Even though, I have tried making many different varieties of chocolate, using a range of different sweetners and fillings, and while there are healthier alternatives, I do believe this is one of the nicest and easiest recipes I've come across. If you are going to make it for that someone special for Valentine's or even for yourself to have in the fridge when the nibbles hit, then I suggest you use the best ingredients possible and don't scrimp on luxury. Enough writing for now though, let's get started..... 

Raw Chocolate Recipe 

125g of cacao powder (health food store)

125g of cacao butter (health food store)

1/2 cup of agave (health food store or some supermarkets)

1 pinch of salt

1/2 tsp of powdered vanilla (make this by grinding 1/4 cup of buckwheat groats with 1 whole vanilla bean to a fine powder You can also buy it in most health food stores if you'd prefer.)

The best way to melt your cacao butter is to pop it into a bowl and then put the bowl into a pot with warm water. The cacao butter will eventually melt from the heat of the water, reducing it to a liquid form. Then mix the salt, powdered vanilla and the sifted cacao powder together in a separate bowl. Slowly add this mix to the cacao butter and gently stir together until fully incorporated. Add agave to the cacao butter mix. If you like nuts or goji berries in your chocolate, you would add them in at this stage. I really love adding almonds (with the skin removed), walnuts, hazelnuts, macademia and goji berries to my chocolate..Not all together mind you!

When your mixture is all ready, pour it into moulds of your choice. Don't be put off if you don't have any individual moulds, you can always pop it into any size grease proof lined dish and let it set in the fridge for over one hour. When you are ready to indulge your taste buds, take it out and break it into uneven, broken pieces and serve.

Because this chocolate is really pure, you won't be able to leave it for too long at room temperature before it melts, so leave it in the fridge until you are ready to indulge.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Ruth.xx.

(If you want a truly raw recipe that will retain all nutrients of the cacao, then make sure to keep the chocolate under 42 degrees centigrade. You can do this by using a thermometer)

Smoothie Blending Basics

Blending Basics

The Base
As simple as blending sounds, when I first started I had no idea what I was doing. I blended  some vegetables and ended up with a thick soup like consistency. It took me a few attempts to realise that something was missing. Some sort of liquid base! Water was the obvious liquid of choice at first and then I began to experiment with coconut water and the nut milks such as almond, hazlenut, rice or oat. Now, I have discovered that water or coconut water is the most neutral liquid medium for making green smoothies and the ones I prefer the best. The key is to listen to your taste buds and find one that works really well for you.  Now is a good time to tell you that when I make all my smoothies, I make them dairy free and I stay away from the use of pasteurised fruit juices and I do not recommend putting any form of frozen yoghurt in to make them creamier. This can be done by simply blending the right fruits and leafy greens together with perhaps some avocado to add in those incredible fats.

You may be reading this and thinking what's wrong with using juice as a base? And might I say what a great question that is! If you look at the previous blog entry I have written on fibre, you will understand that if we juice fruit and add it as a base, you will lose the fibre benefit of that fruit from your smoothie drink. The very nature of a smoothie is the preservation of the whole fruit. However, that said, it is vital that you understand the following statement. Some people with serious health conditions will not be able to digest the smoothies due to their high fibre content and it is in this instance, that juices are advisable.  Again reference this dietary change with a health practitioner for best results and safety.

Blending Pointers for the Beginner.

It is good to be aware that certain vegetables taste better with some fruits more than others. This will be a case of trial and error at first, but do it is good to begin blending with one fruit with one leafy green and seeing how they tastes. You can always work up to more complex blends, but go easy at the beginning.

The combination of fruit and starchy vegetables are not as beneficial to health since they tend to produce the unpleasant side effect of generating gas when ingested.

It is worthwhile having some evaluation of the effect foods have in your digestive system. Different foods have different transit schedules, (the time it takes from entry to exit) and because they require varying acid/alkaline conditions, starch veg require digestion in the mouth, stomach and intestines, whereas fruit sugars are best absorbed in the intestines.

In relation to your green smoothie, leafy greens are not classified as a starchy vegetables, therefore combine beautifully with most other fruits.

If you are interested in finding out more, a very good book on the subject is Food Combining Made Easy, by Dr. Herbert Shelton.

Some examples of Starchy Veggies

Aubergine

Beetroot
Broccoli
Butternut Squash
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Carrots
Corn
Courgette
Green beans
Parsnips
Peas
Sweet Potato

While these vegetables are nutritious and beneficial for our health, they do not combine well with fruit due to their high starch content and I do not recommend their use.

If you would like to ask me any questions on any of the above, I would be delighted to answer them, so just drop me an email and I hope to be able to help you.

As always, I wish you excellent health and happiness.

Happy Blending!

Ruth.

Kicking Those Bad Food Habits

It may come as a surprise to some of you, but Christmas is over!!

I know how sad this will be for some people because it is such a fabulous time of year with food and friendly drinks abundant that many people find it a challenge to stop "treating" themselves well into January. So, I am here to tell you that without having to start a major detox (even though it's a pretty good idea too) is not always essential to help you break those habits that are no longer working in your favour. What are some of those bad habits I hear you ask? Well, dipping the hand into the tin of roses because they're nearly gone and you'd like them finished before you start, the slice of Christmas cake or pud with cream or custard after dinner because you're used to having a dessert after a meal or what about the more sugary cereal that you bought in for Christmas because you love it, but you've just been shopping and bought it again! While many of my friends consider me a person with excellent will power, even I delve in at Christmas.

I mentioned on my Facebook Page that over the last few weeks I had taken a break from having my own  morning green drink, but I am certainly worse off for letting it slide and I wanted to share the effects with you.

The following is a list of some of the observations I encountered by allowing my daily, morning green drink slide.

1. I most definitely had a dip in my own natural energy.

2. I started needing a coffee or other caffeinated drink to give me that pep in my step, rather than for enjoyment.
3. Craving more sugar in any form..honey, chocolate, fruit, bread (which converts to glucose)
4. Not sleeping as well.
5. Change in my overall PH levels, which I measure regularly.
6. Feeling less motivated to exercise.
7. Have had a heavy cold for over the past two weeks...Weakened immune system.
8. Not as many trips to the ladies! If you get my drift.

While this list is not an exhaustive one, I thought I would mention the more obvious symptoms that I experienced. I have been back on my morning green drink over the past week, and already, my sleeping patterns are returning to normal (my normal) and there has been an improvement in my energy levels.

I know it can be challenging to find leafy greens at this time of the year, but at the very least, keep the cucumber, celery, limes, an apple or pear and some spinach going. We learn by repetition which is why once we undo a good habit, it is easy to forget all the good it was doing us.

I also suggest that if you can't get yourself into the kitchen in the morning, that you at least have a shot of wheatgrass whenever you see somewhere offering them or add some greens to your drinking water using any of the organic powdered drinks available in your local health food store. This will start the green process going again and you will find yourself asking for more salad to be added to your plate and alfalfa to your sandwich.

Thankfully, I am back on track now and I won't be giving breaking that good habit up again in a hurry but I certainly felt the negative effects of not eating greens and I did not like it.

Make 2012 your year to add a good habit in and be prepared for great change!

Best wishes,

Ruth.

Will You Help Me Be Better?

"We get Results in Accordance with the Real Values we Give"

And value is what I want to give you, but while I can say with hand on heart that after 25 years of being in the natural health & beauty industry, I have leart that every one of  you is unique and individual. This means that each of you will be more interested in some of the articles that I write than others. I am hoping you will help me understand what those interests are in order to help me serve you better, but also to avoid myself spending too much time writing and posting less than interesting information.

NOTE

As each article I write or recipe I post, takes a lot time to organise and get out to you, I need YOU to tell me what YOU would like me to be writing more about. There is no point in me pouring my guts down on paper if it is not something that you want to hear so it is my intention to focus a lot more on what you want to hear and not only what I want to write about.

Personally, I know what works for me when it comes to feeling good, colours that work for me, the people I like to be surrounded with, styles that support me well, foods that give me energy, help me sleep well and keep me healthy but what about you?

What are you struggling with?

What way do you like to learn?

What would you like to learn more of from  me?

I have put together a small survey that I hope won't take you any longer than 5 minutes to answer.

So, with all that said please find below.........

The quickest survey ever...

A) What is your greatest challenge when it comes to eating well?

1. Money.

2. Time.

3. Knowledge.

4. Commitment.

5. All of the above.

6. None of the above.

B) How much time in any given week do you spend in the kitchen preparing meals?

1. 2 hours.

2. 4 hours.

3. 6 hours.

4 All of the above.

5. None of the above.

C) What is your preferred method of learning new information that you are interested in?

1. Going to a class.

2. Reading a book

3. Downloading an ebook followed up by a seminar or class

4. Getting a coach

5. All of the above

6. None of the above

D) Please select from the following, the topics that are of most interest to you?

1. Natural Beauty - including, essential oils information, skin care, chemical free products

2. Kitchen aids, blenders, juicers, food processors - essential equipment for a healthy kitchen

3. Living foods info, vegetarian recipes, green smoothies healthy holiday foods 

4. Green glamour, bringing the glamour into green, including green gifts, unique style ideas, helping you find your stylish green side.

5. All of the above

6  None of the above

E) Would any of the following be beneficial to your life?

1. Coaching, both off line, on line and tele-seminars.

2. On line daily support programme

3. Home visits

4. On line courses in living a green lifestyle

5 All of the above

6 None of the above

I am always delighted to hear any comments that you have or if there is anything that you have not seen here that you would definitely like me to write more on, then please let me know.

Your own comments here: ----------------------------------------

You're done!

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me. I really am ever so grateful to you.

Best wishes,

Ruth.

Ps: I will be posting up the results over the next few days...can't wait to see what you all say.

Tasty Turmeric Veggies with Millet

Hello fellow yummy, healthy foodies,

It's been too long since I posted a recipe or indeed wrote my blog, but I hope the attached will go some way towards letting you know how sorry I am. It's been all go here getting my book ready for publication and it really is taking up oodles of time. But, things are beginning to calm down now, so it will be all systems go with my blog over the coming months and I am really looking forward to sharing what I know with all of you.

While this millet and veggie recipe wouldn't win any prizes in Master Chef, is still delicious, incredibly good for you because it's sooo alkalising and easy peasy to make which I think more than makes up for the lack of creativity.

Change the veggies around to ones that work for you if these don't float your boat. You can add chicken if you are that way inclined but I think it would be great if you could leave it out and see how you get on without it. How about making it your veggie meal of the week? Just a thought!
I love it and I hope you do too!

Well, here it is...

Turmeric Tasty Veggies with Millet (serves 2 and a bit for the pot!)
3 cups water
1 cup of millet
1 Tbs coconut oil (it won't taste of coconut, don't worry)
1/2 an onion, diced
Handful of peas
1/4 squash (optional)
3/4 tsp good quality sea salt, Himalayan or Celtic
1/2 Tbs ground cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 pepper (I like red), but yellow is good too
1 cup broccoli florets

To make
If you soak the millet over night, it will be much easier to digest and will be easier for your body to extract the available nutrients within.

Add the soaked millet to a pan of boiling water and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside. In a pan heat the coconut oil and add the onions.  Cook for a few minutes until they are a translucent quality. Then add salt and your spices. Cook for several minutes. Finally add all the vegetables except the peas which will be added later. Cook for about 8 minutes. Add peas and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes. Finally, add the cooked millet to the pan and stir everything together. If you would like to add more spices, you can add to adjust the flavouring to suit your taste buds. That's it!

This dish can be served with a nice green salad if you find you would like something on the side.

As always, I'd love to know what you think!

Get the Glow,

Ruth.

Fats-The Good, The Bad & The Downright Ugly

I just couldn't resist it the photo:) But there is some element of truth behind it. There are so many people in the world for whom the battle of saying no to the goodies is a really tough one. Tackling your mindset around why these are so tempting to you in the first place, is the most important area to get clear on (and will be covered in another blog), but it is equally as important that people know why saying no is a whole lot better for you in the long run.

When I was growing up my mum was a brilliant cook and in particular, a brilliant baker. I loved and still do love the delights that she can produce when she gets into the kitchen. Although,  nowadays her idea of a dessert (living on her own) is a nice M&S, mixed berry crumble, or heaven's forbid, one from Lidyl or Aldi! Still, she gave myself and my sisters a taste for the sweet things in life and we are beyond fussy, when it comes to getting it right in the goodies department. Lucky for me though, I had a host of food sensitivities, so I began to uncover the world of guilt free baking! And discover it was exactly what I did. To this day, I cannot and will not eat the stuff that some people pass off as a "replacement" for brownies or flapjacks, which I love!! These baking faux pas can be truly horrific and would put anyone off wanting to chose the "healthy" option. Honestly, I would prefer to eat an amazingly good product once a week than one a day of these poor, desperate imitations (unless it's me making it that is...such modesty!) But I digress......

The baking tray is not the only place where we can find these fats that we find so hard to say no to, but it is one of the more challenging, particularly if you like to go for cup of coffee in Starbucks or some of the other coffee houses that have popped up all over the place in recent years. You may even have told yourself that having that muffin or scone every day with your cup of coffee is ok because it's your little "treat" for being so good (good for what I'm not quite sure), and because they are packaged so invitingly, you might be fooled into to thinking that they're are actually not as bad for you as you thought! Well, I will be the bearer of bad news..... these products are laden with the types of fats that you definitely do not want to eat on a regular basis. Remembering that there's so much more to fats than meets the immediate eye. Let me give you the low down on some of the important things you should now about fats, especially if you are going to move from zero to hero in their world.

First though, let's get some facts about fats out of the way.  ALL fats are completely, totally and utterly essential for us to live healthy lives. Fats help you body absorb many essential vitamins (A,D,E and K), they maintain the structure and function of cell membranes and preserve the integrity of your immune system (helpful don't you think!).  Your brain is composed of 60% fat and one third of this should come from essential fats if you want to achieve optimal health and wellness. So next time you hear of someone on a fat free diet, worry, really worry!

Fats break down into the following categories:
1. Saturated fats - which are solid at room temperature e.g. butter, meat, lard, coconut oil/butter
2. Unsaturated fats - which are liquid at room temperature e.g. vegetable oils

Unsaturated fats break down further into:
Monounsaturated  fatty acids (avocado oil and olive oil)
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (sunflower, corn or hemp oil )

Some of these fats are essential fatty acids and the others are non-essential. In short, we need to take in essential fatty acids (also known as the polyunsaturated ones) because they cannot be made by the body. The primary function of EFA's is the production of prostaglandins which regulate body functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, blood clotting, fertility and play a role in immune function by regulating inflammation by encouraging the body to fight infection. The non-essential can be manufactured by the body in small amounts and therefore it is not essential that we get them from our diet.

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids - The Really Good Guys
Just to keep things simple, I will only look at omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Omega 3 fats can be found in sources such as flax (also known as linseed), pumpkin and hemp, plus fish oils like krill. The omega 6 fats are found in sunflower, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds). In the body, the omega 3 fats are converted to alpha-linolenic acid, which then converts to EPA and DHA, which have an anti-inflammatory effect. Omega 3 fatty acids are easily damaged though (which is why you should not heat these oils) and is also why they are usually omitted from many processed foods. We are much less deficient in omega 6 than omega 3 because many food manufactures add these omega 6 oils to our food. This happens for many different reasons, but one of these reasons is because fats make our food taste better. However, this leads to a over supply of omega 6 and an under supply of omega 3 for many of us and therefore provides another reason to reduce the amount of processed food in your shopping basket. The omega 6 fatty acids are broken down by the body to linolenic acid, which is then coverted to to GLA (think evening primrose ladies) and a not so good acid called arachidonic acid. To avoid too much arachidonic acid, the recommendation again is to lessen the amount of processed foods you eat plus reduce the amount of animal based products you consume. As mentioned above, because all essential fats are so easily damaged by heat, please avoid using these oils for cooking and do consume cold for best results.

Saturated Fat - The Bad Guy or Is It??
Not all saturated fat is bad for you, which may come as a shock to many of you.We actually need saturated fat in our diet. It is the saturated fat that is found animal based products, which we need to reduce, which is also the saturated fat that found in large amounts in or current Western diet. But did you know that coconut oil is also very high in saturated fat too? But it a different type of saturated fat which contains medium chain triglycerides rather than long chain triglycerides and our bodies LOVE these MCT's. They are actually incredibly beneficial for our health and can be brokendown and utilised quickly by the body and are a really excellent source of energy. In South East Asia and the Pacific Island where coconut is revered, they enjoy high levels of cardiovascular health and super strong immune systems and it is their consumption of coconuts that are largely responsible for these findings. Coconuts also contain lauric and capric acids, which are incredible antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial agents to so excellent for maintaining a healthy gut.

Transfats - The Downright Ugly and what's it doing on our plates anyway Guy!!
A lot of the polyunsaturated fats we eat are damaged and become trans fats or processed fats. These are also known as hydrogenated fats. To turn a vegetable oil into a hard fat (e.g. margarine) it goes through a process called hydrogenation. This is where hydrogen is added to a vegetable oil to make it solid.You know the type that you can take out of the fridge and spread immediately?  This hydrogenation process blocks the body's ability to use the good fats and is something that we really want to avoid.  Could this mean that you are reducing the effectivness of your essential fatty acid supplements??  Having too many of these transfats in your diet will also increase your bad cholesterol (LDL) and also lower your good cholesterol levels (HDL). Transfats are not something you want in your food so next time you go shopping, please read that label for the word "hydrogenated or partially hydrodgenated" If it contains either, don't buy it. Transfats are not even recognised by our bodies and will immediately store it as a toxin. And back to my baking scenario above, most of the shop bought cakes, muffins and scones are make by using these hyrdogenated vegetable oils, so this is another good reason to avoid them or at least reduce the amount you purchase and consume.

As with anything I do, my aim is not to scare you senseless into making changes or to confuse you so much that you do not know what to eat anymore. My only aim is to educate and inform you and to help you feel better and live a healthier and longer life.  So, the next time someone puts one of those pretty looking cup cakes in front of you and your feel obliged to eat it, be aware of what they contain and make your choices based on the facts. I also LOVE cupcakes and scones too, but when I chose to bake them, I will make make sure that my body at least knows what to do with it when it goes in by using real identifiable butter or fat that my body will recognise. I suggest you do this too.

I hope this has helped you and would love you to share it with as many people as possible if it has. This is the best way to pass on the good word.

I would also be thrilled to receive your comments and if you have any pressing concerns about what you've read, please feel free to email me (see contact me area).

Finally, if you are currently challenged by any health concerns i suggested you consult your doctor before embarking on any major change to your diet, particularly if you are currently taking doctor prescribed medication.

Other than that.....I wish you incredible health and happiness!

Ruth.