Taking a break

I guess it's best to let you all know that I'll be taking a break from blogging. I haven't written anything for a while, and I've been feeling a bit guilty about that. So it's best to take a break and then continue when I feel ready for it again.

Reason? There are few, main one being that there are things happening in my life at the moment that take all my energy and thoughts, leaving little for anything else. I may tell you all about it one day. And also I'm taking a break from raw food for a little while (not from green smoothies though, these are too good to be without them). I'm hoping I'll have a new start with raw food next spring/summer, for now I'm trying to stick to vegetarian cooked food (must confess some meat has been sneaking back in to my diet again).

Come back and have a look at my blog after new year, I'm hoping I'll be in writing mood again by then!

XXX

Raw till dinner

Indian summer! It has been rather nice and warm outside, 20C for this time of year is definitely above average. So I've been trying to consume more raw food again, with various results. The-green-smoothies-for-breakfast-routine is most definitely a keeper, rest of the day is more of a hit and  miss. Some days I've been high raw, some days rather low raw. Like yesterday I had marmite toast for mid-morning snack, savoury hemp pancakes (by Gillian McKeith, delicious and filling, not foldable though...) with organic cheese for lunch and salmon for dinner. By evening I felt like I had swallowed a brick, so to compensate this I started the day today with 1 litre of green juice, followed by 1,5 litres of green smoothie, then 1/2 melon and raw salad for lunch (see recipe below). I felt rather proud of myself, and no bloated belly. But then it was time for dinner, and hungry husband coupled with slightly grumpy toddler meant something more substantial than raw salad was needed, so it was fish and potatoes with steamed vegetables. 

So I can definitely do "raw til dinner", but will I ever be able to go 100% raw? Not sure, but I'm not too worried as long as I eat as much raw food as possible during the day. 

Today another raw "uncook" book arrived, by high profile raw foodist Ani Phyo. Her book Anis Raw Food Kitchen - Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes has been praised as great source of easy and tasty raw food recipes. I had a quick look and there are quite few I'd like to try, and today I had one of her salads for lunch. I was worried a bit about the onions, but after marinating they are quite mild. Both me and Maya loved it!

Wilted spinach salad with marinated onion in mustard seed dressing 

Serves 1-2

Marinated onions

1/2 smallish yellow onion, sliced

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos or Nama Shoyu (in worst case, light soya sauce will do)

Pinch of black pepper

Mustard seed dressing

1 tbsp soft dates or agave syrup or maple syrup or raw honey (I used honey)

2-3 tbsp of apple cider vinegar 

3-4 tbsp of virgin olive oil

1 tsp of mustard seeds

1/2 tsp of seal salt

Salad

Couple of handfuls of spinach

1-2 carrots, julienned

Pinch of ground black pepper

To marinate onions, combine them with vinegar, pepper and Braggs and set aside while preparing the salad. For dressing, mix all ingredients in a bowl (if using dates, soak them in little water for 5 minutes and then mix the dates and water until syrupy). Place spinach and carrots in a bowl, pour onions and marinade over, toss a bit and then pour the dressing over, toss again. Serve the salad with some freshly ground black pepper. Enjoy!

I have been off from work for 3 days as our nanny is on holiday, and I have really been enjoying spending time with Maya. She's been having her toddler conversations with me, stringing together 4 word meanings already. And of course, copying almost anything I say. It's now I can see that trying to continue with OPOL (One Parent One Language) approach is going to be a challenge, as she speaks mainly English and it's often easier to respond in English. Especially when she asks: What's that? (sounds: sssat). But I'm determined to talk Estonian to her and I'm now reading bed time stories to her in Estonian (thanks Karin for the books!).

Off to bed now, I'm back to work tomorrow...

Cold weather and raw food

It’s cold outside! Well, maybe not today, but the weather is definitely getting colder. And this is my first winter on raw food journey. I feel already now that it’s going to be a struggle, as I’m not lover of cold food when I’m freezing – my winter favourites are hot soups and spicy casseroles. So I'm going to still have them, but the soups and casseroles will be vegan and vegetarian this winter.

We’ve had to make some adjustments with our food shopping as very high part of our income will be going to childcare in a month time. I’ve been keeping track of our food bill for few months now and it’s high. Being on organic high raw food diet is not cheap, that’s for sure. So I’m now doing weekly menus, shopping lists and I’m also hoping to do most of the shopping online to avoid the impulse shopping I’m prone to when in supermarket (and I sooo hate supermarket shopping, too many people). I’m trying to make simple, quick meals during the week, and then have something nice at weekends. Breakfast is still a green smoothie, then some snacks at work and for lunch salad or vegetarian meal. My goal is to get the food bill down at least 30%, if not more. 

When I have time (which is not very often) I try to read other raw food blogs and information about raw food on the net. It's amazing how much different views there are about raw food, which is very confusing. One says that fruit is best and should be a major part of raw food diet. Other says that fruit is not good, it feeds candida and all sorts. One says supplements and superfoods are the key for successful raw food diet, other says that no supplements should be consumed as it puts stress on liver. One says that good quality mineral salt is ok to consume (not table salt), other says that all salt is dangerous. One promotes green juices, other green smoothies. Some say that only 100% raw food intake is the only way to be true raw foodist, others say that steamed or roasted root vegetables and whole grains are the key for successful high raw food diet. So what should one do? 

After some googling and referrals from other raw food blogs, I got myself e-book by Frederic Patenaude: Raw Secrets . I haven't read it yet, but he claims to be able to bring some light on all this confusion and also help to overcome fall-backs. He even has a chapter about how to to stay raw in cold climates. Will be interesting, will let you know what I thought once I've read it. 

Our little green warrior still managed to get some nursery bugs despite my superfood feeds and has been having snotty nose and been a bit off food. She's been eating lots of green stuff though - raw spinach and salads, vegetables and bean sprouts and seaweed and fruits. It is such a good feeling when ones children are happily eating lots of healthy food, so I hope this phase lasts for a long time, if I'm lucky, forever!

Green toddler in making

So I’m back now. Back to colder weather, but healthier food! Portugal (Algarve) was great, but I didn’t manage to eat much healthy food except some fruit in the morning. The food was ok, not great, but I guess it’s typical beach resort food – grilled/fried fish and meat, pizzas and burgers with fries, rather boring salads – they had iceberg lettuce, tomato, onion and olives on the menu which could be called raw, and even olives are not raw as such… And lot’s of Sangria and Capirinhias were consumed, which taste great but are definitely not healthy! 

Now it’s back to reality – work, menu planning and laborious food shopping. Yes, I hate every minute of it, and online shopping is not making it any easier, have tried. Plus you cannot really buy fruit and veggies online; you’ll just get out-of-date, horrible stuff. Note to myself - must find a good organic veggie box company who can delivery after 6 pm…

My plan is to start my raw food transition all over again; I guess I’m still a bit of novice to manage to stick to raw food when on holiday. I read loads of raw food blogs for tips of staying healthy on holiday, but all that knowledge was suppressed somewhere in back of my brain as soon as I entered the airport. I did pack fruit salad and raw snacks for flight, but fruit salad goes slimy and horrible in the bag so most of it had to be binned.

So this week I've been getting up extra early (5.30!) to be able to do my green smoothies AND juices, I've had 3 large glasses of banana, pineapple, kale smoothie with added hemp protein powder every morning after few glasses of green lemonade. Maya's been having almost a glass of smoothie too, well done my little green warrior! For breakfast I have been having sprouted bread with goat cheese or Marmite toast, lunch raw salad and dinner cooked vegetarian or fish dish. I've also noticed that my carb cravings are back, hence the Marmite toast... Must add more good healthy protein to the diet again.

My little green warrior went off the food when on holiday, maybe it was hot or maybe she was tired of all the sandwiches, grilled chickens and fries (on the Infant menu, as it was called) she was offered. She did eat salad when I had it and olives, also fruit, especially oranges, which are nice and sweet over there. Luckily she seems to have got her appetite back again, and have been enjoying lot's of vegetables this week. Her favourites are sprouts, but she also likes raw salad onion (she calls it "spicy") and avocados. 

I'm also making sure that she gets lots of superfoods: besides green smoothies, sprouts and avocados she also has black-strap molasses, bee bollen, raw cacao, maca powder, Linwoods organic milled flax, sunflower, pumpkin seed and goji berry mix on her breakfast etc. I'm hoping this will boost her immune system, important now when she has started the nursery, where all the viruses are lurking around. She started on Thursday, 2 days a week, I’m really hoping she will not go through all the horrible illnesses she had last time she was at nursery. In fact, she hasn’t been ill since she stopped going to nursery, except chicken pox, so I’m treading this whole thing a bit. But on the bright side, the nursery is lovely, they have home cooked food with lot’s of variety (even quorn and other more unusual foods), lot’s of activities and the rooms are age divided and not too crowded. The first two day's have been success, they love Maya!

Have to go now, I promise to start taking pictures soon again, the blog looks a bit bleak without them...

Holiday

We're off to holiday tomorrow, going to Portugal, so I won't be here for a while. I've been off this week as well, and it has been bad in food wise, I've been eating almost as in "old days". Still having my green juices and smoothies, but it doesn't seem to help me to not want cooked food. Oh well, I'll start again after our holiday.

I've been trying not to think too much what I'll be eating in Portugal, I've never been there and have no idea what's available. Won't be having any smoothies, that's for sure..

Will update when back, have to sleep now. Byeee!

The ups and downs

What a yoyo week it has been! In food wise. Monday I started the day with green smoothie, and continued the day fairly well - huge sprout salad for lunch and baked salmon with veggie and couscous mix for dinner. Then on Tuesday I had no desire for smoothie at all, so I had toast for breakfast. I then ended up having vegetarian sandwich for lunch and as I got home late, I didn't have time to cook any proper dinner. I threw a pie and few chips into oven for my hubby, and ended up having huge salad with couple of chips (couple=10). Naughty, I know. But it proves the theory that if you start day healthily, you're more likely to stay on track of healthy food rest of the day. 

So yesterday to "balance" the naughtiness, I started the day with 1.5 litres of green juice (recipe below), continued with 1 litre of green smoothie and for lunch I had sprout and seaweed salad with salmon sashimi (I only managed to eat couple of pieces as that particular salmon tasted extremely raw fishy and not very pleasant!). I didn't choose sashimi because it had raw salmon in it (I'm not THAT dedicated raw foodist yet), I just fancied sushi, and wanted to opt out the usual rice that's in most of the sushi. For dinner I had rice noodle and tempeh stir fry with loads of veggies. It was my first encounter with tempeh, and I must say I like it (not keen on tofu though). This particular one was organic marinated tempeh from Planet Organic. Like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans, but tempeh is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein,dietary fiber, and vitamins. Guess who spat it out at dinner table?

This morning I was in hurry so had to skip the green juice, but had lovely protein green smoothie. Roasted halloumi and quinoa salad for lunch from my favourite salad bar - Tossed. When thinking what to have for dinner, I just felt I had to have mashed potato! Don't ask me why. It was so good. I tried to ignore the accusing stares from Kate Wood, Victoria Boutenko, Natalie Rose and other raw food author's books from my book shelf while enjoying my mash, but they seemed to shout at me: that is not raw! Get those organic carrots out from fridge instead and dip into raw almond butter NOW! :-)  But I did have over 1 litre of green smoothie this morning, so I wasn't phased. 

Wednesday's Green Juice

1 smallish or half of large head of romaine lettuce
5-7 leaves or large handful of kale (I used purple kale as it's in season now and easily available)
1 unwaxed, organic lemon, skin on (if waxed and not organic, then peel it)
2 apples (organic if you have, I didn't so I scrubbed them hard)
2 organic carrots (easily available and cheap)
1/2 organic cucumber
1 stalk of organic celery

This yields 1,5 litres of delicious green juice.

Blackcurrant Green Smoothie

250 g Blackcurrants
Handful of frozen mango chunks (or use fresh mango and ice)
Juice of 2 large oranges
Handful of organic spinach
Couple of dates for sweetness
1 Tbsp of maca powder (optional)
1/2 Tbsp of bee pollen (optional)

The verdict? Still quite tangy and sour, could've done with more dates or maybe a splash of agave syrup. It was also quite thick, almost like a pudding, so more orange juice or maybe water would've been nice. Otherwise a great smoothie, no trace of spinach neither in taste or colour (gourgeous purple colour!), so excellent for those who gringe when hearing the words Green Smoothie.

Peachy Protein Smoothie

3-4 peaches

2 smallish frozen bananas (or fresh ones and ice)

4-5 kale leaves, stalks removed

1 Tbsp of hemp protein powder

1 Tsp of raw cacao powder

200-300 ml water

Happy blending!

Oh, nearly forgot: our little angel has been in monster mode again this week, I start to see pattern- one week nice, one week not so. Tomorrow is my last day at work before 2 weeks leave, so it will be nice spending some time with Maya, complete my to-do list for which I never have time for and then go for a short beach holiday with K, K and K. Can't wait!

Good morning routine

I recently read that good morning routine sets your day - if you have healthy breakfast you're more likely to eat healthily rest of the day. I think it's probably true, during the week when I have my green smoothies for breakfast I find it much easier to stick to raw or vegan diet, than the day's I have a toast or similar. It's especially noticeable at weekends as I tend to have "normal" breakfast with my family - Marmite toast with cheese or scrambled eggs on Sunday's - I'm then more likely to eat cooked food, this weekend I even had chicken. I still try to have my green juices, usually before dinner, so at least I don't miss out on my "greens" completely. 

Haven't been at gym this week as I sprained my ankle last Friday, I fell down the stairs. My ankle is still swollen, not as painful any more, but definitely not ready for any form of exercise yet. It's a shame as I just started to get into the whole going to gym thing.

As for our little angel, that's exactly how she's been this week. It's unbelievable how the mood swings with toddlers, one minute a tantrum throwing monster, another minute a giggly adorable cute little person. She's so trying to speak now, and can string 3-4 words together: Mummy sit here! =) And the mixing of 2 languages, which was of course expected (we are doing OPOL - one parent one language, I speak Estonian with Maya), but still interesting to hear. Only 2 more months and she'll be 2 years old!

I haven't managed to take any food pix again, and I haven't tried any new recipes, so that's a bit boring. But I have been shopping a bit, here are few goodies:

Shazzie's Raw Cacao and Almond Spread

My new hair care range - John Masters Organics. I got Zinc and Sage Shampoo, Rosemary and Peppermint Detangler. Love it!

Just some thoughts

I can't believe, my carb cravings are almost gone! If it's green smoothies or added hemp protein, not sure. Maybe both. I'm starting to love my green smoothies now, it took some days to get used to them. I've had 3 large glasses of green smoothie every morning this week. I finally got my Green Smoothie Revolution by Victoria Boutenko (I've tried to order it twice and delivery company failed to deliver) and I'm looking forward trying some of her receipes. Maybe this:

1 mango

1 kiwi

1 cup collard greens

2 strawberries

1 sprig of basil

1 cup of water

or

2 ripe peaches

1 grapefruit, juiced

1 cup kale

3/4 cup water

or if you can get ingredients, this one sounds interesting. Makes 2 litres.

1 cup dandelion leaves

1 cup spinach

2 cups strawberries

3 mangoes

1/4 pine needles

2 cups water

So what have I been eating lately? As said, I have over a litre green smoothie after my morning glass of water. Then around 9.30ish I've been having bowl of organic cinnamon blueberry flaxseed cereal with hazelnut milk -  so delicious. Hazelnut milk is my favourite nut milk at the moment, it goes really well with coffee too. For lunch I usually have a salad with piece of sprouted bread. One day I had a vegetarian ciabatta as I thought I needed some carbs because I was planning to go to gym in the evening. It didn't give me the energy I thought it would, so I will not do that again. Then in the evening I usually have a cooked vegetarian meal. I did try a savoury green smoothie (or cold soup?) for dinner one night, but didn't like it. Green smoothie for me has to have fruit in it, at least for now. 

On Wednesday I finally got out my bike. It's been in shed for 2.5 years, since I moved from London. I used to bike to work, but since the move I haven't had chance to use it. But now I have no excuse, instead of taking the car to gym I can use my bike. 

On another note, it's been lately a bit mentally exhausting at home. Maya is in a some sort of terrible two's at the moment, and everything needs to be challenged. And the screams and the tantrums are never ending. Latest thing is complete refusal to eat sitting in her chair. Only way she eats her dinner is either on my or daddy's lap. And the sucking of thumb that started last week, at the age of 21 months? Why?

I've started to take camera with me to work again so I can take food pix again, and I promise to be better on updating more often here. My next goal is to be 100% raw 1 day a week, haven't set a date yet, but hopefully soon.

My greenies and a thought about cravings

I haven't forgotten my blog, it's just been one of those weeks when you just do not want to open your laptop at evenings after long day at work, spent behind a computer.

Anyway, the past week or so has been ok on food wise. I've been drinking loads of green smoothies, over a litre every morning. I've started to find my own favourites now, some recipes below. It hasn't taken off my hunger for breakfast completely, but I'm having much less as the smoothie does keep me full for much longer than green juice used to. I still try to have my green juices in the afternoon before dinner, if I have time.

I have been craving though. Yes, this irresistible feeling when you just have to have something now! I have been craving for carbs - wholemeal toast, mashed potato and wholemeal pasta. One evening my dinner consisted of just mashed potato and nothing else. So weird! I have been trying to find more information about cravings, and there seem to be two main theories about cravings - one is that cravings are an emotional and hormonal imbalance and other is that we get cravings due to mineral/nutritional deficiencies. I think it's probably both. Cravings for sugar is a sign of deficiency of chromium, cravings for chocolate might be magnesium deficiency and carbohydrate cravings is funnily enough  protein deficiency!  I've been thinking for a while to buy raw, vegan protein powder to add to my smoothies, so I guess I have even more reason for this now.

My favourite green smoothies at the moment:

Pine-kale

1/2 pineapple
1 banana
handful of kale
200-300 ml of ice cold water (or add some ice)

Calcium blast

100-150 ml raspberries (can also be frozen)
1 banana
1 head of pok choi
200-300 ml water (and ice if desired)

Blueberry pudding

100-150 ml blueberries
1 banana
large handful of spinach
200-300 ml water (and ice if desired)

Happy smoothie making!

Now, need to order some organic shampoo from So Organic.

Green smoothies

When I started to blog I knew it was going to be difficult to find time to update regularly, but this has been the longest blog post draught so far! I just feel exhausted when I get home after long day at work, and many days I don't even open the laptop. When I get home, my evening is filled with juicing, making dinner and Maya's food for next day, playing with Maya and by the time she's gone to bed and I have a chance to sit down and take a breath, I just want to go to bed myself with a good book. And of course I fall asleep within 5 minutes instead of reading that book... 

As for my food intake, it's been up and down again. I'm failing to find a method that really works for me, Rose's levels 5 raw transition diet worked for a while, but somehow it didn't appeal to me for longer than a month. It seems to be same with any changes I try to make to my diet, it lasts about 6-8 weeks after which I really need help to stay on track. So I'm now going to try something else to help my journey towards raw food - green smoothies. I had my first one today - green smoothie with romaine lettuce and watermelon. It wasn't as good as it could be as the watermelon I had was one of those pale ones without seeds, probably genetically modified to become seedless and therefore also tasteless. Have you noticed that only watermelons with lots of dark brown seeds have rich, red flesh with lots of flavour? So note to myself - check that the watermelon I buy is NOT seedless. Or any other fruit for that matter. 

Anyway, my latest plan is to add green smoothies to my fairly healthy, semi-vegetarian diet and see if this helps me to switch more towards raw food. Victoria Bountenko says in her book Green for Life that adding a litre of green smoothie to your diet will help with various health problems and also helps to curb your cravings. I've been having bad cheese toast cravings, I hope to get rid of these with help of green smoothies. 

Here are some recipes:

Blend well following:

8 leaves romaine lettuce leaves

1/3 of watermelon

200-250 ml water and some ice

Blend well following:

2 handfuls of kale

1/2 ripe pineapple

200-250 ml water and some ice 

Blend well following:

6-8 romain lettuce leaves 

1/2 medium honeydew melon

300-400 ml water and some ice

Many raw food books originate from USA and one problem for me has been their different measurements they use in their cook books. One of the most common measurement is a cup. What is 1 cup? If a recipe says 2 cups of water, do you know how much it is? I didn't before but my friend Google helped me:

1 cup = 240 ml = 8 fl oz = 1/2 pint (liq) = 16 tbsp = 48 tsp

Another one is a quart, which I've never heard of before. It's almost 1 litre (0.95 l), so luckily easy to remember. 

I'm now going to look into various greens I can get hold of here in UK (selection seems tiny, at least in supermarkets). Besides the "usual suspects" spinach, kale, broccoli, pok choi, celery and romaine lettuce Victoria mentions greens I've never heard of: arugula, escarole, mizuna, lambsquaters (wild weed) and so on. From now on I'm also going to use beet and carrot tops, mustard greens, collard greens, radicchio and green herbs such as dill, basil, coriander (cilantro in US), fennel, mint and parsley in my green smoothies. Amongst more unusual greens are the wild weeds such as chickweed, clover, dandelion and stinging nettles. On my next walk to park I'll check out these super-greens! 

As always I'm full of enthusiasm when embarking on a new culinary path, I sooo hope this will last. Wish me luck!

Why so tired?

I haven't blogged about food lately, and I must confess it's mainly because it's not going very well at the moment. As you know I started with Natalie Rose's level 5 raw food transition nearly 3 weeks ago, and first week went well. My typical food intake was as I wrote in my post couple of weeks ago, almost exactly as level 5 should be. But then by the end of week 2 I started to feel absolutely exhausted, I started to fall asleep on the train on the way to work which never has happened before! I slept more than usual and quite well at nights so when I felt so drained I just couldn't understand why. Didn't have energy nor motivation to go to gym either. And I was absolutely puzzled - I was supposed have heaps of energy - I was drinking 1,5 litres of green juice every day, eating lot's of raw vegetables and even taking supplements in form of chlorella, Siberian ginseng, milk thistle among others. The whole thing resulted in me going almost back to my "old" eating habits - whole meal toast with cheese for breakfast, coffee a bit later, cooked vegetarian meal for lunch and another cooked meal for dinner. To my further puzzlement I started to feel better.

I started transition diet again on Monday, but by Wednesday I was feeling tired again, yawning throughout the day. I did force myself to gym and felt much better after but I don't get it. What is going on? Is this toxins leaving my body and draining all my energy? If this is the case, then I should just try to hold out a bit longer and it will go over. Me falling back to oldish habits is just going to prolong the whole process, but it's hard. Wonder if any other raw foodists have experienced anything like this, so far I've just read that many have got almost instant energy kick when transforming from cooked to raw and specially when adding green juices and smoothies to the diet. I do hope it's not only me...

Today I had gazpacho for dinner, so delicious! It's hot and muggy tonight and cold soup was exactly what I needed. I must admit that I cheated though, instead of blending it together myself (it's dead easy!) I went down the lazy lane and bought New Covent Gardens fresh soup.

One more day before the weekend, hoping to go to Farmers market on Saturday to top up my fruits and veggies. Now it's time to sleep!

Meet the nasties!

Just a quick post about the synthetic cosmetic ingredients you should avoid in your skin care products. This means reading lot's of small print on back of your products, as some of the products that call themselves "natural" still contain these chemicals, because the manufacturers get away with this if they have even 1 natural ingredient. Following list is produced by Aubrey Hampton:

METHYL, PROPYL, BUTYL AND ETHYL PARABENS

Used as inhibitors of microbial growth and to extend shelf life of products. Can cause allergic reactions and skin rash. Some studies have shown that these ingredients are slightly estrogenic and can be absorbed to the body through skin. 

DIETHANOLAMINE (DEA) AND TRIETHONALAMINE (TEA)

Often used in cosmetic as emulsifiers and foaming agents. They can cause allergic reactions, eye irritation and dryness of hair and skin. DEA and TEA are ammonia compounds and can form cancer-causing nitrosamines when they come in contact with nitrates. Toxic when absorbed into the body over a long period of time.

DIAZOLIDINYL UREA AND IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA 

Widely used preservatives, works best as biocide in combination with parabens. Can cause contact dermatitis and release formaldehyde which can be toxic. 

SODIUM LAURYL/LAURETH SULFATE (SLS)

A cheap and nasty detergent used in shampoos for it's cleansing and foam-building properties. Often derived from petroleum, it's sometimes disguised in pseudo-natural cosmetics with the phrase "from coconuts". It causes eye irritation, scalp scurf similar to dandruff, skin rashes and allergic reactions. 

PETROLATUM

Also known as petroleum jelly, this mineral oil derivative is used for its emollient properties in cosmetics. It can interfere with skins own moisturising mechanism, causing dry skin - often creating the very conditions it claims to alleviate! It's used widely as it's incredibly cheap.

PROPYLENE GLYCOL

This should be a vegetable glycerin mixed with grain alcohol, both natural. In reality it's a synthetic petrochemical mix used as humectant in cosmetics and even in food (retains moisture, makes firmer creams). It can cause allergic reactions, hives and eczema. PEG (polyethylene glycol) and PPG (polypropylene glycol) are related synthetics, watch out for these on labels!

PVP/VA COPOLYMER

A petroleum-derived chemical used in hair sprays, styling aids and other cosmetics. It can be considered toxic  as inhaled particles can damage the lungs of sensitive persons. So no spraying nasty hair sprays around little children!

STEARALKONIUM CHLORIDE

An ammonium compound used in hair conditioners and creams. Developed by fabric industry as a fabric softener, it is a lot cheaper and easier to use in hair conditioning formulas than proteins and herbals,which are beneficial to the hair.Can be toxic.

SYNTHETIC COLOURS

Used to make cosmetic products to look "pretty", these should be avoided completely. Many synthetic colours can be carcinogenic, so if a cosmetic contains them, don't use it!

SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCES

Some of these fragrances can contain up to 200 different chemicals, which are not listed on products. Some issues caused by these chemicals include headaches, dizziness, rash, skin irritation and even vomiting. If the cosmetics has Fragrance as listed on the label, don't buy it!

The list goes on, but these are the main ones that you should try to avoid. The thumb rule is if you can't pronounce it, avoid it! Do go and have a look now if your shampoo or body lotion contains any of these ingredients. If so, would you still use it? Note that the worst offenders are the most expensive brands - Dior, Clarins, Clinique, Chanel, Lancome etc. There is absolutely nothing good in their products, you only pay for the name. If you want to splash out on your skin care, spend it on natural products (some listed in my previous blog post). 

Time for snooze now!

Be nice to your skin

I have been without Internet for few days, as our modem decided to die, so no blogging for me. But now I'm back and ready to blog some more!

When I was writing about eating organic food, I also remembered that it’s not only what you put into your body that’s important but also what you put ON your body. I have been using body care products that contain only natural ingredients for years now, but there are few products that I have not been able to switch, probably because I haven’t found the right one yet. 

Cleansing 

I’ve been using different natural cleansing products, but my current favourite is Madara Deep Purifying Foam. Madara is produced in Latvia, one the 3 Baltic Countries. It doesn’t contain any harsh ingredients, but is still very effective in cleaning away the dirt and oil from your face and doesn't dry it. 

Toner and Moisturiser 

I've been using Origins Oil Refiner Toner and Matte Scientist Oil Controlling Lotion for over a year now, and I love it. My skin is prone for some shine, but using both the Toner and Lotion have helped a lot, my skin has much less outbreaks and is not that shiny anymore. The toner contains Phlorogine, and algea extract that stops excess oils surfacing on skin. It also contains White China Clay which leaves matte finish. It's pricey, but lasts forever!

Foundation 

I've never been much for foundation, as it feels like it just clogs up my pores. But since I’ve found Lily Lolo Mineral Cosmetics, I use their mineral loose powder on daily bases. It’s silky and smooth and gives natural complexion. It also hides minor spots and redness, and has even UV protection. And no nasties in their products at all! Don’t forget to buy kabuki brush with your mineral powder, it’s a must. 

Hair and body care 

I must admit I haven’t found my favourite shampoo and conditioner yet. I’ve been using Burt's Bees, Aveda, Green People and Lavera. They are all good, natural products, but for some reason I haven’t stuck to any of these. At the moment I’m using semi-natural hair care products from Ojon, and I like them! Their Thickening range makes my hair thicker and shiny, and it smells wonderful. Now I just have to decide if I want to keep using this brand, it’s not 100% natural, but it doesn’t have too many nasties.  And I use Dr Organics  Lavender shower gel and body lotion, smells lovely and 100% organic!

Deodorant 

This is one of the items I have not been able to switch yet. I have been using Dove’s antiperspirant since I was 19, almost every day as I’ve been very aware of my underarm odour. I tried several natural products few years ago during my Big Switch (when I threw out all skin care products containing any nasties and bought natural ones instead) , but I usually started sweating ans smelling before I was even out from my front door! The sweating is of course important, it’s how our body gets rid of toxins and waste and cools our body. What antiperspirants do is to block the sweating itself, which is not good, as the toxins get trapped in our bodies and can cause bad health issues. Antiperspirants also contain heavy metals such as aluminium and other harmful chemicals, so I defiantly want to get them out from my bathroom! 

So what causes the smell? The common explanation seems to be that the bad underarm smell is caused by bacteria living on our skin. But there is also a different line of thought – that the real reason for armpit odour is the intentional excretion of toxins that your body is trying to get rid of! So if you smell bad, then you need to think what you eat. Apparently red meat is the main cause of bad body odour. As our digestive system is long, the meat stagnates and putrefies in our system, releasing toxins in to our blood stream via large intestine, and out through your eliminative organs, such as skin. Other food groups increasing body odour is refined, processed foods such as white wheat products, sugary products, products that contain saturated and hydrogenated fats. So do get rid of bad body odour you need to – good guess! – switch to Raw Food Lifestyle! So as I’ve been following higher raw food diet (no red meat) for a while now, I though I should do a trial and I stopped using my beloved Dove for a week. I’ve been using Crystal Spring Natural Deodorant and I must say – no smell! I even asked my hubby to testify after a day at work and he confirmed! So switching my diet to raw food might have solved my life-long battle of armpit (and foot!) odour. 

Toothpaste 

Here is another product type that I have not been able to switch. I’ve been using Oral-B Rembrant for years, and I like it. But I had a look in their ingredients, and there are quite few nasties inside the paste, so I need to find a natural tooth paste that cleans well and preferably has some sort of whitening effect. I’ve tried few organic ones, but they either tasted vial or didn’t clean my teeth properly. But I keep looking, if you have any tips, please let me know! I've been looking at So Organic for some ideas, Green People and Lavera seem to be worth trying.

Mascara 

Again, I haven’t found one yet, but then again, I haven’t really been looking. I’m very picky about the brush my mascara must have (I like rubbery brushes as they separate the lashes better, no clumps). I’ve yet to find a natural mascara with good brush, but I’ll keep looking. So Organic  has few mascaras I might want to try, either Nvey or Green People.

Eyes, cheeks and lips 

I'm using one product for all three! Nvey Powder Blush in Peach Pink is my current favourite and can be applied on eye lids, cheeks and lips, I use it on top of my Lavera lip balm. Nvey Eco Organic Make-up is Australian high quality make-up that only contains certified organic plant and mineral ingredients. No chemicals and completely organic!

And of course I use only natural products on Maya - at the moment we have Green Babies range from Green People and for sun protection I'm using Korres Sunscreen Emulsion for children. I haven't managed to "turn" my hubby completely, he's been using his Head&Shoulders forever and seems to have no intention to switch. But I'm not giving up!

Last but not least I'd like to recommend a natural skin care and spa products from my country of birth, Estonia: Joik Spa. My good friend introduced me to their products and I'm loving them! Imagine using Gin and Tonic Soap or Chocolate Face Mask!

Robyn's give-away

A fellow raw food blogger Robyn is giving away few spiralisers and a mandoline on her blog, have a look:

Girl on Raw

Wish me luck!

I'm in process of writing a new post about organic body care, just need to finish it. It's another busy weekend, but I'm hoping to steal a bit of blogging time on Sunday.

Daily food intake

What a weather it's been this weekend, 30 C today! Yesterday we went to Hyde Park with couple of friends to celebrate Scandinavian Midsummer, never seen so many people there before, must've been around 700! Was great day though.

Just had a quick look at my blog and it's full of text and no pictures! Must admit haven't really taken many pictures lately, will try more next week. As a compensation I'll put up some recipes.

Here is what my typical day's (Monday to Friday) food intake looks like:

I start my day with a large glass of water to flush out my system. Then I have large glass of green lemonade.

1 head of Romaine lettuce

100-200 ml spinach, kale or broccoli

1 unpeeled, organic lemon (if non-organic, then peeled)

1-2 green apples (Granny Smiths)

1-2 cm piece of ginger (optional)

I usually have my breakfast at work. I have 2 slices of organic sprouted bread with mashed avocado (if I have time, I make guacamole) and slice of tomato. To add additional fibre for this I eat 2-3 sticks of celery with the meal.

                                           

Here in UK I have found that only Sunnyvale Organic sprouted bread is easily available in most whole food shops. They use different grains to make the bread, one of my favourites is Carrot and Raisin one. So why sprouted bread? Sprouted bread is made with grains and legumes that are sprouted before grinding into flour. Sprouted grains have increased vitamin and nutrient content because the seed is first sprouted, making it alive and active in its growth process. It often tastes sweet as sprouting changes starches into sugars in some grains, which is also much more digestible. It contains no dairy, eggs and yeast and is usually baked in low temperatures to preserve to nutrients.

For lunch I have big raw salad, I try to have different ones every day, or if I make a bigger batch, 2 days in a row. My current favourite is Rose's Ambrosia salad.

                                          

Ambrosia salad

2 large servings

1 carrot

1 small beet root

1 medium courgette

1 smallish apple

1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced

2-3 Jerusalem artichokes (optional)

1-2 garlic gloves, finely chopped (depending how much you love garlic)

1-2 tps of minced or finely chopped ginger

3-5 tbls of dried cranberries

1/2 - 1 dl of walnuts, finely chopped

1-2 tbls of red or green jalapeño peppers, finely chopped

handful of fresh mint, coriander and basil

Use match stick slicer on your mandoline for carrot, beet, courgette, apple and artichokes. Mix everything together and serve with Liquid Gold Elixir or any other healthy dressing.

There are so many healthy salad dressing out there, at the moment my favourite is Rose's Liquid Gold Elixir.

1dl fresh lemon juice

1-2 garlic gloves

1-2 tbls fresh ginger, cut into small pieces

1-2 tbls Nama Shoyu or Tamarin soya sauce

1-2 tbls raw honey

3/4 dl of cold pressed olive oil

Place all ingredients except olive oil into food processor or hand mixer bowl. Blend until smooth, then start to add slowly olive oil as it's blending. The dressing lasts over a week in fridge. Delicious!

If I feel peckish in the afternoon, I have either fruit or raw snacks. Then for dinner I have another glass of green juice (at least 20 minutes before food) and then I eat either fish and vegetables or some vegetarian meal or more salad.

At weekends I'm eating mostly my "old type of food", as I often find it more difficult to stick to raw food diet then, and I've also decided not to be too strict. The transformation should be slow, and I know if I try to do too much too soon, I'll probably find it much harder. I'm hoping to be able to eat at weekends same food as at weekdays within a year, and maybe in couple of years be in a place where I feel I can eat very high raw food diet all the time. 

Now, it's time for BBQ - pork for my husband and daughter, and halloumi for me! =)

Bite that apple

Eating lot's of fresh fruits and vegetables sooner or later brings up the question: organic or not? Up to now it has been often a cost issue, if the non-organic produce is cheaper, I'd take it. But then again my consumption of fresh plant food was not as high, so eating some pesticides and other chemicals now and then maybe didn't do much harm. Maybe.

But now I consume huge amounts of vegetables in my juices, and I have had to reconsider my choices. I now ALWAYS buy organic carrots, cucumber, celery, beet root and spinach which are the main ingredients in my green juices and which I don't peel before juicing. Most of the nutrition is in or just under the skin of vegetables, but so are pesticides and herbicides. So you either peel it or get organic.

I've also started to buy organic lemons (again for juicing it's best not to peel it), organic tomatoes, cheese (if and when I eat it, might as well be organic) and my new found love - sprouted bread is always organic. I try to get as much organic non-peel fruit as possible as Maya eats them a lot and I definitely don't want any pesticides in her little body. Of course our food bill has been creeping up, but is there a cost on your health?

Here are the main differences between conventional and organic farmers (source: Mayoclinic):

Conventional farmers	Organic farmers
Apply chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth.	Apply natural fertilizers, such as manure or compost, to feed soil and plants.
Spray insecticides to reduce pests and disease.	Use beneficial insects and birds, mating disruption or traps to reduce pests and disease.
Use chemical herbicides to manage weeds.	Rotate crops, till, hand weed or mulch to manage weeds.
Give animals antibiotics, growth hormones and medications to prevent disease and spur growth.	Give animals organic feed and allow them access to the outdoors. Use preventive measures — such as rotational grazing, a balanced diet and clean housing — to help minimize disease.

So it's quite obvious why organic produce is more expensive - crop rotations, higher animal welfare standards and restricted use of chemicals which leads to smaller yield - all this means that organic food costs more to produce. Add to this that government subsidies mainly go to conventional farmers so they can keep the prices low, what can a poor organic farmer do? Well, at least we can help - the more organic food we buy, the cheaper it gets.

Below is a non-organic apple my husband bought for his lunch box. I always wash all my fruits when I buy them, dry thoroughly and put them in Debby Meyers green bags. So when I tried to wash this apple, the horrible, sticky wax would not come off. Yack! Wax is used to prolong the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, and is often of same composition as those waxes used to shine floors, furniture, shoes and cars. That apple went to bin then...

Bon apetite! Not!

The bodyworks

Some days I really feel like I have information overload, my brain goes blank and cannot process any more information. Big part of this is because of my work, but I was thinking that I do read a lot and I try to remember all things I read, which is quite difficult if you don’t have photogenic memory or super intelligence.

Anyway, since I have been reading a lot about nutrition and raw food and how our bodies work, I thought I might as well share this – for me to remember and for you to learn. Obviously not all I’ve been reading is so called “scientifically proven” but it’s not made-up facts either so there must be at least a grain of truth.

What I want to share is what I’ve learned about how our bodies work and what is the best way to nourish and nurture them and what is not good. Many of the tips are also useful for weight loss, so if that’s your main reason you might consider raw food diet, then you might find it worth of reading.

Waste = Weight

According to Natalia Rose waste matter in your body is the fundamental cause for excess weight and for many physical and mental illnesses. Get rid of the waste and you get rid of the pounds and feel well. So what is the waste? It’s anything that your digestive system cannot fully utilise or eliminate and gets stored in your body, some of it stays there for years. Here is the list of foods that our bodies have difficult to break down and should be avoided:

• All fat-free yoghurts
• Sugar-free flavoured yoghurts
• Packaged processed cold meat (ham, salami etc)
• All manufactured low-carb weightloss items
• All diet sodas
• Milk – including skimmed
• Frozen and/or processed microwave foods
• Sugar-free desserts and cacao
• White bread, pasta and rice
• Red meat

You might think that fat-free sugar-free products will help you loose weight, but it’s not so. These products are full of unnatural chemicals such as aspartame and cannot be broken down by your body and hence will be stored as waste. Stop looking at calories on packages, instead look at ingredients. If there is anything with E-numbers or you cannot pronounce or looks like chemical, don’t eat it. If you really want to have that yoghurt, get a full-fat, organic one, preferable sweetened with fruit juices and without artificial flavourings and colourings.

To get rid of the waste, you need to (as you might have guessed) adopt high raw food life style. Eating at least 70-90 % raw food will help your body to get rid of the waste and renew your cells, speed up metabolism and if that’s what you want – loose weight. Or gain weight for that matter, raw food helps your body to find the best weight it needs for optimal function.

So what more can you do to get rid of the waste? Waste is directed to your five major eliminative organs for discarding: skin, kidneys, colon, spleen and liver. Once you start to eat more raw foods, these organs start to release the waste and toxins, so it’s important to transform to raw food diet gradually not to give your body a toxic shock. Other ways to help your body to get rid of waste and toxins are colonic, enema, dry brushing and massage, exercise (increase of blood flow for organs and sweating for skin) and deep breathing (for lungs). Did you know that emptying your bowels in squatting position is more effective than sitting? Use something to lift your feet up the floor, so your knees are higher than your hips! =)

Food combination

For maximum health (and for weight loss) it's best to practice food combination. In simple terms food combination means that you should not eat carbohydrates and proteins at the same time. In more detailed terms, there are 4 basic categories of foods: 1 - starches (carbohydrates), 2 - fleshes (proteins), 3 - nuts, seeds and dried fruit and 4 - fresh fruit. Starches should not mix with fleshes, fleshes should not mix with nuts/seeds/dried fruit, and nuts/seeds/dried fruit should not mix with starches. The first 3 categories can be mixed with unlimited amount of vegetables, fruits should always be eaten by itself. Never eat fruit after a meal!

Ideally, these 4 groups should never be in stomach at the same time. Why? When you eat fleshes (meat, fish, egg, shellfish, cheese), then stomach releases acidic digesting enzyme pepsin for easier protein digestion. When you eat concentrated carbohydrate such as starches (pasta, rice, white and sweet potato, legumes, breads) the stomach releases alkaline enzyme to digest it. The acidic and alkaline enzymes neutralise each other, so when eating carbs and meat protein together, digestion is hindered, causing fermentation. Besides bloating, gases, cramps and burping, it might cause diarrhoea and/or constipation. To simplify: eat carbs with vegetables; eat fish and meat with vegetables; eat fruit 20 minutes before or 3 hours after main meal (best as first thing in morning); if you are hungry, eat more of the same type of food; nuts/seeds/dried food mixed better with raw vegetables than cooked; if you "mis-combine" your food, do it at dinner so your body has plenty of time to move it through your body before next meal.

Hydration

If you eat high raw fruit/vegetable diet and juice, there is no need to drink masses of water as you'll get plenty and more nutritious hydration through your diet. Of course it's good to drink as much as you can, but only between your meals. Don't drink any fluids 20 minutes before your meal and 1 hour after. Why? To help effective digestion of the food. If you drink too much during your meal, you'll dilute the stomach acid and the enzymes will not do effective job in digesting your food. Poorly digested food stays longer in your digestive system and starts to ferment and putrify, leaving waste matter in your body (remember: waste=weight). That's a hard habit to beat, I'm so used to drink something after a meal, so I have to consciously think not to drink with and directly after meal.

Chew, chew and chew

Chew your food! It might sound silly, we all chew our food when we eat. What I mean is to chew it until it's like purée. The more you work your food in your mouth, the quicker it's digested in your stomach, and the quicker it comes out! Most people chew their food only few times, so it's small enough to swallow it, but still in big pieces. Next time you eat your meal, concentrate only on your food (no TV or other stimulants) and chew your food consciously at least 25 times. Put you cutlery down and think of the flavours, the texture and how chewing makes it easier to swallow. Not only it aids digestion, it helps against overeating. It takes some time before your brain can registry that you're full, so if you eat slowly, you feel full much earlier than when you'd scuffle down your food in hurry. Give it a try!

Oh dear, it seems to turn into one of those mega-long posts again, so I better stop now. I'll add more info as I go along, otherwise you'll lose the will to read! =)

The tools of trade

Eating more raw food doesn't have to mean spending heaps on expensive kitchen appliances. You can easily get carried away with all the enthusiasm, but there are really only few essentials you need.

Juicer

This is a must if you want to include green juices in your raw food journey. There are 2 main types of juicers: masticating and centrifugal. Masticating juicers "chew" slowly fruits and vegetables, releasing more nutrients and juice will contain less oxygen, giving it longer shelf life. Centrifugal juicers work by using cutting blade on the bottom of rapidly spinning basket, centrifugal force forces the juice out from the cut pieces. The juice is less nutritious, and contains more oxygen, which means more frothy juices and short shelf life. Centrifugal juicers also struggle with juicing of leafy green vegetables and cannot juice wheat grass. So it's worth to invest into a good masticating juices, mine is called Oscar 900.

Blender

Most households already have blenders, these range from inexpensive to extravagance and is a must for smoothies. It's good to invest into one that can break ice as chilled smoothies are much better! When my old blender broke, I needed something quickly and bought Philips blender from Argos. It has 5 star serrated blade which is good for icy smoothies, but motor is not the most powerful one. On the other side of the price scale are Blendtec and Vitamix blenders, which are highly valued amongst many raw foodists, but not affordable for everybody. Definitely worth the investment as these will last forever and are very durable, so one of these will be on my birthday wish list!

Food processor

There are so many food processors out there so I don't even know what to recommend. I'm still doing some research to find one that appeals to me, so any suggestions are welcome. Blendtec and Vitamix blenders can be used as food processors, so I might try to combine these. At the moment I'm using an inexpensive hand held mixer and it does the job for small patches of nut cheeses, dressings and pates. But I'm definitely looking into getting something bigger and more powerful which will be needed if I want to experiment with more raw food recipes.

Mandolin and spiral slicer

It's not a necessity, but it helps you to create good looking salads and slices fruit and veggies very thinly. There is a variety of  mandolins out there, just take your pick! If you start to get really into raw food, then a spiral slicer is a great buy, as it allows you to make raw courgette spaghetti.

Knife

A good and sharp knife is a must in any kitchen but absolutely essential in raw food kitchen. Chopping, cutting and slicing of raw fruits and vegetables calls for an investment of at least one high-end kitchen knife and good sharpener. I invested years ago into a good Japanese kitchen knife set which also includes a cleaver (great for opening of coconuts).

Dehydrator

Absolutely not an essential, more of a luxury item but great to make convenience foods such as raw crackers, cookies, bars and breads amongst many other things. Excalibur is most popular dehydrator and apparently very easy to use.  Apart from preserving food for later use, dehydrating using a food dehydrator can also preserve the nutritional value of the produce due to the low temperature they can operate at. Cooking food at temperatures above 118ºF (48ºC) destroys the enzymes and essential nutrients contained in the food.  I don't have a dehydrator yet, and don't plan to get any in near future, if I fancy a raw snack then I have Planet Organic whole food shop just around the corner of the work, and there is an array of raw food snacks to choose from.

Need some sleep now, my eyelids are drooping and are hitting my lower lip any minute, so I better go to bed before I fall asleep here at the sofa. I promise to write more soon!

Food for soul

I've received some comments that I should post more recipes, here are few lunch and dinner ideas plus juice and smoothie recepies.

Kale salad - punch of kale massaged with 1/2 avocado, 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp lemon juice, added are few tomatoes, 1/2 carrot, some radish, olives and handful of sauerkraut.

Green smoothie - 2-3 green apples, juice of 1/2 of lemon and handful of kale, add water if too thick.

Smoked mackerel fillet with bean mix - can of black beans fried in coconut oil with 1 small onion and 1 garlic glove, add 1 pok choi and 1/2 courgette, sea salt, pepper and a pinch of chilli powder

Delicious honey mango smoothie - 1/2 honeydew melon, 1 mango, 2 tbsp raw honey, pinch of cinnamon

Green lemonade (courtesy of Natalia Rose - The Raw Food Detox Diet) - 1 head of Romaine lettuce, 1 whole lemon (if not organic, peel it), punch of kale, spinach or broccoli, 2 green apples and piece of optional ginger. Great beginner greenie as the lemon takes off the veggie flavour.

Roasted butternut squash and feta cheese with pumpkin seeds, mixed salad and tomatoes dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt and pepper.

Power lunch - I bought Chinese cabbage salad with green pepper, celery and marinated tofu and I added cherry tomatoes, sprouts, avocado, hemp seeds and dressed with Nama Shoyu (unpasteurised soya sauce).

Simple dinner - roasted sweet potatoes with salad and sun-dried tomato tapenade - 1/2 cup (125 ml) sun-dried tomatoes, 1 garlic glove, bunch of basil leaves, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, 2 tbsp of olive oil, sea salt and pinch of cayenne pepper.

Last but not least - raw chocolate mousse! I found great dessert recipe on Gina's Choosing Raw blog, she calls it Chocomole and it can fool the biggest sweet tooth into thinking they eat the "real" mousse. I blended 1 ripe avocado with 8 dates, 3 tbsp of raw cacao, 1 tsp of vanilla essence and a bit of water if needed. If not sweet enough add some maple syrup. It's delicious AND healthy!

Hemp seeds are full of amino acids and great protein source, I sprinkle mine on salads.

I found 2 more raw chocolates - one with maca and wild blue-green algae and lucuma bar. I loved the first one, but wasn't overly keen on lucuma bar. Lucuma is sweet fruit native in Latin America, used as natural sweetener, can substitute vanilla and chocolate flavours. Rich in iron, niacin and beta-carotene. 

Black olive and onion sprouted buckwheat biscuits - great to dip into hummus or eat with cashew cheese. Healthy-healthy snack!