Tag Archives: diet

Sprouting

Posted in food is medicine, fructose free, gluten free, healthy eating, meat free, salad, superfood, Uncategorized, vegan, vegetarian by

In the 70’s and 80’s it was trendy to have various pulses sprouting in jars around the house. I remember having jars of alfalfa and mung beans everywhere…along with the obligatory mustard and cress on cotton wool – slightly yellowing and curled at the edges. I did this because ‘everyone else’ did. I did enjoy them but the ‘fad’ soon ended.

Now, all these years on, once again I have jars with sprouting pulses in cupboards and in dark corners.  This time however, I do it not only because I enjoy eating them but also because I know the health benefits that eating them brings.

I know that soaking and sprouting de-activates the acids and enzyme inhibitors present in the pulses preventing them from growing until the conditions are favourable. This de-activation then enables our bodies to digest and absorb the vitamins and minerals more readily.

Now I sprout a wide variety of legumes – lentils, chickpeas, quinoa and (of course my old favourite) mung beans,  to name few.

                                  Green lentil                    Quinoa                              Mung bean

I’m yet to try chia seeds – I’m sure they will but am just not sure how to as when they are soaked they get a mucilaginous coating. Any advice?

Cauliflower, quinoa and chick pea bake

Posted in food, gluten free, healthy eating, meat free, superfood, Uncategorized, vegetables, vegetarian by

280416s1

Preheat oven to 180c / Gas 4

Ingredients:

1 cup of rinsed and cooked quinoa

1 cauliflower cut in to small florets

1 tin of chick peas – drained

Coconut oil

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsps cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

(or any combination of your favourite spices)

Method:

Arrange the cauliflower, chickpeas and quinoa on a baking tray and sprinkle with the spices. Dot the mixture with coconut oil. Place in oven. After 10 mins remove and gently turn the ingredients to ensure all coated with coconut oil. Return to oven and bake until cooked and  – about 30 mins.

280416s

Perfect eaten on its own or served with a poached egg on top. Also a great alternative accompaniment for a curry. Delicious cold as well.

 

One week…

Posted in food, fructose free, gluten free, meat free, specialised diet, Uncategorized by

So…one week has passed and I have not eaten any meat at all (I have had some fish) and I cannot believe how much better I feel. The sluggish feeling has gone completely.

It has however made me realise how ‘alternative’ diets are still not readily catered for and I wonder if they ever will be. Let me explain what I mean. Yesterday, I spent a glorious day  helping out at a function with several people. All the helpers had lunch provided – a picnic. A picnic with standard fayre – an assortment of tasty looking sandwiches, crisps and delicious looking cake. It wasn’t an event ahead of which you would state you are gluten-free, fructose free and meat free – so having helped at previous functions I knew to take my own food.

The point I’m trying to make is that I couldn’t eat any of this ‘normal food’.

When my husband and I go out for dinner it can be quite disheartening when I look down the menu to see only a couple of items that I can choose from and a few more for him because he is only gluten-free..

Now I know, and I’ll say it before you do, that these diets choices I have made are from personal choice not a medical directive so maybe I should suck up and shut up. But, there are millions of people out there for whom a change of diet is a necessity to stay well.

I wonder when the balance of ‘normal’ food to ‘different diets’ will shift?

 

 

 

 

 

Roasted vegetable and cauliflower cheese tart

Posted in food, gluten free, healthy eating, Uncategorized, vegetables by

Preheat oven to 200c / gas 6. Prepare a 20cm loose bottom tin.

Ingredients:

Shortcrust pastry:

80 g rice flour, 140 g buckwheat or chestnut flour, 70 g ground almonds, 2 pinches of salt, 2 tsps ground linseed, 1/4 tsp xanthum gum, 100 g salted butter – chilled and diced, 2 eggs 3-4 tbsps cold water.

Method:

Mix all dry ingredients, rub in the butter with your fingertips until  it resembles  coarse breadcrumbs.

180416a

Stir in the beaten egg with a fork. Add small amounts of water as you toss the crumbs together. Continue until dough is formed. I find that a gluten free dough takes up more water than a wheat dough and is quite a sticky dough.Knead briefly to bring to a ball. Wrap

180416b

in parchment and chill for at least an hour.

Roll out and place in the flan tin. Prick the base with a fork ( I trim of the excess pastry after cooking to allow for shrinkage).Line pastry with parchment and baking beans.  Bake blind for 10 – 15 mins.

180416c

Filling

Ingredients:

Carrots, peppers, parsnips and sweet potatoes prepared and roasted in olive oil

Halved mushrooms  – sauteed

1 onion sliced in to rings – sauteed

Tomato sauce: chopped tomatoes, 1tsp of chilli, handful of chopped basil leaves and small carton of passata – simmered to reduce the water content

Cauliflower -cooked

Cheese sauce

Basil leaves

Assembly:

1. Lay roasted veg around the cooked cauliflower
2. Spoon the tomato sauce over the veg and arrange mushrooms, onions and basil on top
3. Drizzle cheese sauce over the cauliflower

Finally put back in oven to heat through – 15-20 minutes (moderate temperature).

180416g

You don’t eat sugar!?

Posted in food by

This what I was asked the other day.

My response was that I ensure I consume a minimum amount of fructose a day.

‘What…you don’t eat fruit? But fruit is good for you!’ was the immediate response..and a look of horror.

This got me thinking…

When I was child we had an apple a day (to keep the doctor away), we never ate bananas, had satsumas at Christmas time, grapes only when we were poorly and all other fruits were eaten seasonally – to go fruit picking was a family day out. And, as for dried fruit – in a wedding, Christening or Christmas cake or given as a present in the form of crystallized fruits at Christmas.

When did we start to eat so much fruit?

It is wonderful to be able to nip to a supermarket and see a plethora of fruit types from the usual to the exotic. But does this mean we should increase our intake?

I decided to cut back on sugar when I was informed of the different ways in which glucose and fructose are metabolised and the effects on the body. My understanding is ( I am not a doctor so I do not claim to be correct) every cell in the body can use glucose but the liver is the only organ that can metabolize fructose in significant amounts. When we eat a diet high in fructose the liver gets overloaded and starts turning fructose in to fat.

When I decided to ‘quit’ sugar for several weeks to let my body recalibrate the only sweet foods I ate regularly were medjool dates, dried apricots and a daily square of 85% plain chocolate. At the end of the first week I would have fought someone for a sugar fix! I was astounded. Seemingly even the small amount I ate was causing an ‘addiction’.

Again, I was informed that sugar, in the same way as cocaine, lights up the ‘pleasure centre’ in the brain which floods the body with dopamine – the feel good hormone. As this wears off another fix is needed. When we eat foods containing sugar often and in large amounts, the dopamine receptors start to down regulate so the next time we eat these foods, their effect is lessened so we need more to get the same level of ‘fix’. ie the sugar hijacks the brain chemistry to make us crave more and eat more.

Of course I intake sugars daily from milk in the form of lactose and from the vegetables I eat – but actively avoid other sources. When I occasionally eat some berries I really enjoy them but I ensure that I don’t eat them everyday. Do I feel better for this? Absolutely.

 

Coconut granola

Posted in food, healthy eating, superfood, Uncategorized by

Ingredients: gluten free rolled oats, cashew and pecan nuts, chia and pumpkin seeds, unsweetened desiccated coconut, cinnamon and ground ginger and coconut oil.IMG_20160220_141928

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and then add melted coconut oil – sufficient to coat the ingredients. Spread out on a baking tray and pop in to a hot oven for 5-10 minutes.

Allow to cool and then put in to a storage jar. If not devoured,  it will stay fresh for a couple of weeks.