Here’s today’s ‘leftover smoothie’:
An apple, a peach, 3 baby carrots, a big handful of spinach & lettuce, blackberries , rhubarb bits, 1/2 an avocado, a slice of pineapple (core and all) a scoop of protein powder, tbsp of flax oil and some ice. I know what you’re thinking- blending whole carrots? Well just watch. I’ll never be able to go back to a normal blender now!

Click Here to See Blending in Action

For a great meal, try starting off with a big bowl of green leafy vegetables. Choose the really tasty ones – red leaf lettuce is nice, mix it with a bit of rocket or watercress or try some spinach. Then add loads of salad ingredients and top with some lovely dressing – a handful of pumpkin seeds, chopped nuts, egg or some leftover chicken or salmon. For a more filling meal add some couscous or cooked rice to the base. Or try quinoa – a grain with an excellent profile of amino acids (the building blocks of protein) . Don’t be afraid to mix sweet and savoury – a handful of blueberries or chopped red grapes in a green salad is delicious. And peppers of all colours can give your salad a real ‘colour hit’ and increase the antioxidants at the same time.

Dressings can really liven up a dull salad. Have you tried some of the amazing flavoured vinegars you can buy now in specialist shops? Give them a go. A little goes a long way so they are not as expensive as they first appear. I’m going to feature some dressings for salad in future blogs. Many of the best and most nutritious salad dressings can be found on ‘raw food’ websites.

And as an example, here’s today’s lunch. This ‘intermediate’ salad contains kale that has been ‘massaged until soft’ with 1/2 an avocado, a little olive oil and a dash of sea salt . Then I’ve added red onions, pumpkin and sesame seeds, some beautiful strawberries, dried cranberries and tomatoes and topped it off with a tiny sprinkle of pomegranate flavoured balsamic vinegar – yes pomegranate – it’s delicious I promise you !

Doesn’t it put a smile on your face just looking at it? More on the use of kale in salad in a future blog….for now, just trust me! Prepared in the right way, it’s amazing!

And for those with the ‘biology geek’ gene – here’s the longer version that tells you what is going on…. yes every minute….inside you…now…many times over!

Amazing….

But don’t give up on blending vegetables and fruit just because you can’t afford one of these super powered blenders.  You can achieve a lot with a mid range blender … if it can blend ice well it can probably make a basic green smoothie. Just leave it on a little longer and accept that if you become a ‘heavy end blender’ your machine may burn out eventually. By then, you will know if you are ready to join the ranks of the investors in ‘Super Blenders’. The two best known brands are the Blendtec and the Vitamix . Watch out for them at expo type events so you can see for yourself before you buy – Vitamix were at the Grand Designs show this year. I read just about everything on these two power blenders before finally opting for the Blendtec.They are both amazing machines so it’s really a matter of personal choice in the end. What swung it for me in the end was the fact that the Blendtec is more the size and shape of a standard blender. I also like that you can just press a ‘one touch’ button then leave the room and let it do it’s work – these things are loud!

If you want to see them both in action, watch this Green Smoothie video with the two blenders tested side by side.Good recipe too though I don’t think the digestive enzymes are essential.

The only way to really know if your blender can make some of the more nutritious ‘green smoothie’type recipes is to give it a go. There are lots of recipes so Google away and have some fun. Blending is much easier than juicing, maintains the fibre from the fruit and veg and, more importantly,washing up is no problem so you might actually keep the habit going!  Be careful though- some of the green smoothie recipes with masses of the harder veg are really only suited to the very strong blenders. I’m still testing my lovely Blendtec and today tried out a smoothie to use up some of my beetroot in the fridge. The result was amazing. The recipe was :

• 2 apples
• 1/2 a lime
• 1 large carrot
• 1 small beetroot
• 1 scoop of whey protein
• 1 quarter tsp of matcha green tea powder
• Some filtered water

Here’s how it went….and I still have a large bottle left for later.

What a colour! Maybe I’ll pour in a bit of sparkling water and some lime slices for a non-alcoholic cocktail later!

Has anyone tried blending smoothies which include whole beetroot and carrots or greens in their home blender – I’d be interested to know how easy it is? Get blending and let me know….

The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid produced by Oldways, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the European Office of the World Health Organization has been updated in light of recent research and now includes herbs and spices and a recommendation to eat fish or shellfish at least twice a week. Here it is:

You can read more about the Pyramid, download a PDF and see some delicious recipes on the MFA website (an Oldways programme).

How does your food and lifestyle compare? If you’re not there yet, take it one step at a time.

Step 1:  Stick this lovely Pyramid picture on your fridge door !

If you’ve not heard of it, the message from the 10:10 campaign is quite simple but one that will make all the difference if we really go for it – we just sign up to cutting our carbon by 10% in 2010 – hence 10:10. Easy isn’t it?

It makes perfect sense on so many levels. I’m signed up and working out my baseline as best I can so I can measure how we get on this year – both at home and in my business. Your measures don’t have to be perfect – it’s more important to get on and do something. Little changes can make a very big difference if enough of us go for it. We heard a story this morning about one family paying their little one 10p every time she remembered to switch a light off – that’s creative! (and could get expensive…)

5 reasons to join 10:10

1) Cutting down on some of your car journeys is a great strategy AND will almost certainly mean you walk or cycle more, even if it’s just to the bus stop! More exercise=better health

2) Buying local food reduces air miles- getting out visiting small local shops and businesses, browsing lots of lovely Sussex produce, slowing down and feeling part of your community = great for stress reduction. Not to mention eating all of that fabulous food we have all around us and supporting local business

3) The Soil Association estimates that UK organic farming is about 26% more energy efficient per tonne – try some organic food….it tastes great and could help with your carbon reduction.

4) Producing some of our own food is not only satisfying, delicious and a great health strategy but a fantastic way of reducing carbon. If you don’t have a garden, Brighton and Hove Allotment waiting lists are open again in many areas. If you’ve a long wait, why not try the ‘Grow your Neighbours Own Scheme‘ – I gather it’s really taking off at the moment. Or start by growing some herbs on your windowsill – those endless plastic pots of herbs we buy come with a cost to the environment. A pack of seeds will last ages and no plastic pots filling up your bin

5) Having a little less meat and factory farmed chicken and replacing it with some more vegetable based dishes could reduce greenhouse gases and have health benefits. There is no need to become completely vegetarian – stick to grass fed meat and give ‘Meat Free Mondays‘ a try. Vegetables have so many health benefits – make this the year you learn how to cook 3 GREAT veggie dishes. Jubilee Library has a brilliant selection of cookery books – go browse next time you’re in town.

So that’s it. Now go find out more and sign up here

CHANGE NUTRITION IS PROUD TO BE

You might have seen the last one of these events ‘Goddess of Chocolate’ on Heston Blumental’s ‘Feasts’ this week. As the name suggests it was all about chocolate…the good stuff , not the cheap choc bars we all try and avoid! If you missed it you can catch up online at Heston’s Chocolate Factory Feast

The Goddess of Wellbeing night is on the 21st April 6-9pm at the MyHotel in Brighton. Come and join us for a different night out and go home feeling like you have more energy than before you went out for once! I look forward to seeing you there…

1. Set up the candles, open a nice bottle of red wine and get out a game – poker, scrabble, dominoes, twister – you choose!  But be careful of those candles if you choose Twister!
2. Have a romantic candle-lit dinner
3. Treat yourself to an hour long meditation session
4. Get in an early evening nap to make up for that sleep deficit you’re carrying
5. Turn off the lights and go out for a walk – see how many people in your neighbourhood are turning off their lights. Take a friend..and a torch! Or if you are local join the Brighton and Hove torchlit walk – from the Peace Statue at 8

Watch the launch video below – amazing!

We all need to take action to prevent climate change and this one is easy – switch those lights off at 8.30pm.

BUT….when we get it right, just like those amazing friendships, food can…

• nourish us, help us feel warm & connected with ‘life’
• remind us to take a break in our busy days
• be a welcome constant in our otherwise frantic lives
• help us recover from illness and manage our stress
• give us support, help us function and be well
• bring a smile to our faces even in the most difficult of times

Preparing and eating simple, nourishing and lovely food for ourselves, our friends and our families can help us all develop another friendship – with our food.  And this is one that your body will really thank you for. Enjoy.

I wrote an article about this recently which was published in ‘Foster Families’ magazine. Foster Families is a fantastic magazine aimed directly at foster carers – It’s a really good read and gets the balance right between providing a wealth of information about being a carer whilst  ’keeping it light enough’ to read in the bath or before you drop off to sleep at night. Visit the website or follow them on Twitter to find out more. Well worth the small subscription fee.

To find out more about my work with foster carers and adopters and download a copy of my article in the Spring 2010 edition of ‘Foster Families’ , click here