Food

Food can be an incredibly big topic! Like the saying, how long is a piece of string? You can follow it far and wide and in the end, it is what resonates with you most and is certain to change during your lifetime. In my training as a Yoga Teacher, we covered a workshop on nutrition, however, I am not qualified as a Nutritionist, or aim to give health advice. I am simply sharing here, my passion of foods, my journey through foods and some favourite recipes.

When I became conscious of my reality (2005), one of the first things that dramatically changed in my life was food. Becoming aware of chemicals and numbers in food, packaged, long shelf life foods, it was - and still can be very overwhelming. I choose now to eat organic when possible and grow some of my own vegetables. I have also found that eating 100% organic for 100% of the time is just not possbile at this stage for us for various reasons.

There may be times when you possibly freak out about eating non-organic. And that is a choice.  You can either live, be in and buy into the fear: freak out about it not being organic, how bad it is, how much chemicals there are on it or how many numbers, let alone how long it possibly has been chemically enhanced / genetically modified for long storage/shelf life. This can cause you physical, let alone emotional stress and make the food even 'worse' for the bombardment of negative thoughts you have just enhanced over it.

Or you can either choose to bless your food with a simple prayer (I bless this food with love and thank it for giving it's life to nourish us), and then take a moment to think back to where each ingredient came from, from the journey from your plate to where it began. Thinking of the carrot on your plate, from the shop/market, to the grower, to the ground and earth where it grew. This only needs to take little time, and with practise, it does. You may even find that the farmer - even though using chemicals, has a really loving heart, a passion for what he does and is grateful for his life. Thinking back to the chicken's place of living and its journey and honouring that, taking a moment to trust that that soul of the chicken learnt what it needed to whilst here experiencing itself as a chicken.

I think (correct me if I am wrong), but it was Buddha, who reached a state of enlightenment, where if he drank a bottle of poison, wouldn't affect him. This is true for you, me and everyone. It is very possible to reach this state, where chemicals, poisons and the like do not affect you. It is up to you to do the conscious spiritual growth work and listen to your intuitive guidance about where you are at and what you are being guided to do.

It is challenging to keep my daughter 'protected' of all the 'bad' food that is out there 100% of the time. Again, it is a choice. To have stress, or to not? I have found comfort in myself, with my realisation and knowingness of what feels right for us, that we eat 'healthy' at home, and when we are we do what we can to stay on track with what feels right for our eating habits. I feel that the Unschooling Philosophy helps me here, to allow her what she wants when we are out (to an extent). If she asks for and wants something that will irriate her rash when we are out, I let her know that it will irritate her rash. Sometimes she puts the food back, and sometimes she doesn't. And it also really depends on how connected we are to each other, ourselves, and if she is needing a release of feelings or not. What I am comfortable with is that if I can role model healthy eating and prepare, serve and have 'healthy' food at home, then when she is old enough, it is her choice (and is now) to eat what she wants. And as with the Unschooling Philosophy and with this for me, the biggest part of this is Trust.

Discovering many different ways of eating, I have experienced high protien meat 'diets', raw living foods, and nourishing foods. With what feels right for me, that my body feels best on, is a mixture of Raw Living Foods with Nourishing Traditions (by Sally Fallon). In October/November 2010, I did a 30 day raw cleanse, this was the first time going 100% raw. My body changed and I felt good! Since then, discovering and learning more about my body and foods, I am now incorporating Nourishing Traditions, combined with Raw Foods. This is what works for me, and I am sharing it here.

This page will be added to as it is alive for me to do so.

**Majority of the seeds and nuts that I use in my recipes I have activated, by soaking and then dehydrating.

Easy Cashew Dip
1 cup cashews - rinsed and soaked for minimum 4 hours.
2 tblspns lime juice (or lemon juice)
2 tblspns apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup water
pinch of sea salt
- Place all ingredients except water in a blender. Add half of the water and blend. Keep adding water slowly until you reach your desired consistency. I usually stop in between and taste it, sometimes I prefer to add more lime juice or water, depending on what I am needing/feeling. Feel free to vary it as you feel.
- I have made this before in a hurry without soaking the cashews and it has still worked. However, it is best to soak the cashews.

Lamb Pot with Rice
This is very similar to a stew, but, as I don't use anything to thicken it, it has liquid that can be thin.

- Brown meat in a pot with olive oil and butter.
- Remove from pot and pour out browning liquid.
- Add more butter and olive oil and saute onions until clear. Add garlic (if using) and return meat to the pot.
- Add tomato paste and stock. Add water only if needed. It should just cover it, but not too much. Bring to a boil and skim (to remove impurities)
- Add pumpkin, carrot and sweet potato and celery. Bring to boil and then return to a simmer.
- Simmer for 4-6 hrs on a very low setting. You may want to start to soak rice now.
- Add green vegetables to the lamb pot 1-2 hrs before ready to serve.
For Rice:
- Soak the rice in a glass/ceramic dish in water and whey** (around 2 tblspns to 2 cups rice). Place in a dehydrator (or leave in a warm place) for 6-8 hrs.
- Cook rice by bringing to a boil then simmering on stove until cooked. Stir in 2 tblspns of butter just before serving.

** To make Whey, can be found in Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions pg. 87

 Raw Chocolate Mousse
We made this at Playgroup/Mum's Meet and was yummy! Again, can experiment to your own taste. We also made a bigger batch than the recipe below, this is about half the recipe of what we made.
2 avocados
1-2 tblspns Raw Cacao Powder
1 tblspn Coconut Oil (optional)
Sweetner to taste. We used honey, about 1/3 cup. Add slowly and keep tasting to your liking.
- Scrape out avocado meat into a bowl. Mash with a fork.
- Add raw cacao, coconut oil (if using). Mix well.
- Add sweetner to taste.
- Serve immediately or will keep for a day or two in the fridge.

Sun Burgers - Ani's Raw Food
Kitchen By Ani Phyo. Page 194. I enjoy having these regularly. Making a batch of 'bread' and having it on hand, makes for an easy raw lunch.

Sundried Tomatoes - The Art of Raw Living Food by Doreen Virtue & Jenny Ross. Page 89. These are a yummy snack and Adaya loves them too!

Olive & Sundried Tomato Cheese. Russell James The Raw Chef. Cheese e-book. Pg 18.
Chipotle Taquitos with Mole Sauce. Russell James The Raw Chef. Mexican Style. Pg 22.
'Crab' Cakes. Alissa Cohen. Living on Live Food. I borrowed this book, so can't remember page number. I was grateful for this recipe as I love seafood and during my raw cleanse.. was Divine.
Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms. Russell James The Raw Chef. No Dehydrator Needed. Pg 12. I enjoyed these alot, they are very easy and yum!

Fresh Mango Cobbler. Ani Phyo, Ani's Raw Kitchen. Pg 215. I loved this! Was delicious!

Raw Chocolate Cake. These always taste different when I make them, but the orginal recipe I got from Doreen Virtue and Jenny Ross's Book, The Art Of Raw Living. Pg. 159

These I make alot.. easy and yum. Isn't 100% as I am unsure of where to get raw nori from. The 'rice' is cauliflower and the fillings always vary depending what is on hand.

Raw Chocolate. These too, always taste different and I enjoy using honey instead... gives a different flavour. Original recipe is from Alissa Cohen's Raw Food for Everyone. Pg 413. Chocolate Truffles.

Gnocchi Carbonara. Alissa Cohen. Raw Food for Everyone. Pg 348. This was very filling!

I love this one! Ani Phyo's Pad Thai. Didn't take as long to prepare as I expected and tasted sensational. From Ani's Raw Kitchen Pg 186.