My little heart is singing.... Launching my 'One Vegan Dish A Week' challenge...

It seems that my excitement about food is not just affecting me - recently I've had a couple of requests for recipes... and the latest one - to send a friend one vegan recipe a week to try. 

I'm so aware I'm merely at the very beginning of my journey into vegan eating so I could be barking up entirely the wrong tree. However, it makes my heart sing and so far all my best decisions in life have made me bubble with joy and excitement (including some of the harder, less popular ones).  I know the feeling by now (and I love it!).  I've lots to learn and am looking forward to learning it.

Since I've had a few requests I'll aim to pop a vegan recipe on here each week - feel free to leave feedback and thoughts... and happy, cruelty free, life enhancing cooking!

Looking forward to a brilliant future of tasty treats (I've just discovered raw kale chips. Oh my word. I intended taking them to a party last night and they didn't make it out of the door!), feeling great and knowing that no animals have been harmed in the making of my every meal.

Going nuts for milk

I'm so very pleased with myself for managing to make milk. Well I did a great job years ago but turns out I still have a brilliant ability. Slightly different process - OK no comparison - radically different process but milk nontheless. 

It was really on the back of a not so successful (aren't all the best discoveries?) attempt - this time at a vegan like nutella.  Turns out I wasn't so good at almond nutella although it did grow on me a bit.  Now almond milk? A different story. I am GOOD!

The recipe was from How it all Vegan, a vegan cookbook and is as follows:

60g almonds
475ml water
2 pitted (I used Medjool) dates

Blend the raw almonds until they become a coarse powder - add water and dates and blend again. Strain any lumps and chill.

They recommend for cereal and porridge.  I used on my homemade granola and really enjoyed - little miss not so much her porridge with it although yours truly tasted it and found it delicious.

Coconut milk still to be trialled but again from the same book:

250ml boiling water
40g desiccated coconut.

In a blender or processor puree the water and coconut until well incorporated.  Strain out coconut bits and chill.

With big thanks to everyone who kept telling me almond milk was tasty - so glad I checked it out for myself. Easy to make and without all the additives from the supermarket versions.

Continuing on plant based journies...

Intruiged by Scott Jurek (ultra marathon runner) and his adventure into a vegan, plant based diet; inspired by Brendon Brazier (multiple Ironman Triathlete) and generally curious, I've been continuing my tentative steps into the world of vegan foods and plant based diets.

If you're anything like me then the negatives of why not to eat meat might not interest you. They didn't me. At all. I could still rationalise that I'd evolved to eat meat, it was OK if it was well kept/had a happy life/organic/free range and whilst I knew things weren't all that great it was sort of easy to switch off to the images and points of view.

What I found more difficult, even impossible it would seem, to ignore were the health benefits.  Scott (Jurek as mentioned above) talks in his great book 'Eat and Run' about how he recovers better, trains better and feels more well than he ever has before.  Brendon Brazier. Ironman. Not sure what else is needed to say there! The phenomenal distances involved and amazing feats in completing just one of the three parts of the Ironman Triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run) are inspiring in themselves. And then to discover he feels fantastic, and discovered eating a plant based diet whilst working out what suited him best for training.  And still follows it.  Good enough for great athletes, surely it makes sense for the everyday person such as myself?

It's been much easier than I thought although am still making the transition and do have some products I'm using up such as pesto that are not entirely plant based (or go out for dinner and don't stick with it yet or sneak a bit of baking for school that I've been using butter in) but generally would have to say that I'm largely following my heart, moving closer towards 100% plant based eating.  I am feeling good, looking OK (although my daughter tells me I look like a circus performer with my braided hair) and have lots of energy to be a mum, study, work and play at training for my first triathlon. Happy days!

Homemade Energy Bars

Loving cashew nuts at the moment so I thought I'd create something yummy instead of simply devouring them (in their equally yummy state) straight from the bag...

Here's what I made...

100g cashews
25g almonds
25g pecan nuts
25g pumpkin seeds
25g sesame seeds
100g medjool dates
50g cranberries
50g apricots

Add all the ingredients to a food processor and whizz.  The longer it's blending the smoother the mix will be and if you leave it long enough it should (mine did anyway) come together in a big blob of loveliness.  Scrape out of the food processor and press firmly into a lined tray (approx 20cmX15cm or so).  Mark out the squares with a knife and put into the fridge to set.

When wanted wrap or put into snack box if taking out for a ride/run or simply enjoy on return.

'The Best Nutritionalist in the World is You!'

I'm just coming to the end of a week of juicing with salads or soups for dinner. My diet will have been approximately 80% raw, largely vegan and definitely plant based. And, most importantly I'm feeling great!  I've had plenty of energy to go out for runs, swimming training, work and run around after my 5 year old full of life daughter.  Feeling good and loving life. There's been times my food intake hasn't been so positive - and I've known it - physically less energy, less motivated and less enthused about life. We really are what we eat. I watched a film last night where it was stated that 'the best nutritionalist in the world is you'. Strong statement perhaps but we are, we know if we listen to our bodies, what's good and what's not so good. More about that in a moment.

This week, along with other reading, incidents and events, has inspired me to get out there and study nutrition and also add to my kinesiology training as I think it's vital that we look at nutrition in terms of all round health.  If we put poor quality oil into a car can we be surprised if it splutters and chugs along. Likewise if we start each day with a coffee, some white bread and sugary jam, follow on with a chocolate bar or crisps, a sandwich/carb filled lunch then is there any wonder that mid afternoon comes and we're flagging?

I've become fascinated by the topic (maybe a bit too much occasionally - advance warning!) and also by what I've not questioned in the past. Milk - good for you. Really? (1) Meat - we've evolved to eat it, we NEED it. Again - really? 5 a day is enough. Says who? The Japanese recommend 13 vegetables and 4 servings of fruit a day (3) which is actually not all that hard to do. I've done it plenty of times.

Cooking had become a chore and now has transformed into a joy - I'm loving experimenting with new foods, trying new dishes and it's opened up a whole new world of vegan/veggie cookbooks... About that new bookcase...

Oh - lastly - the documentary last night around food, health and disease - have a watch here:

http://foodmatters.tv/screening-event-cinema

Here's to 'an epidemic of heatlh' and getting towards a culture of 'education not medication'.

1 http://www.wellandgoodnyc.com/2011/09/23/china-study-cheat-sheet-10-things-you-need-to-know/
2 http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm
3 http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/may/25/healthandwellbeing.health

WHY do we need to eat that?

So one book having led to another as they do (and as amazon helps kindle readers along with so well) I started Scott Jurek's Eat and Run. I would say it's the most influential book I've read this year (and, being me, I've read a few).  It's led me on a journey towards questioning why I eat certain foods, what the benefit to me is and set me off on another path of food based consciousness and awareness.


Scott follows a plant based (dairy free and wheat free) diet and has found that he recovers faster, races better and is in better overall health than when following his previous diet.  His book gives recipes at the end of each chapter which are easy to follow and tasty.

I feel like I've started to see clearer where food is concerned and that I'd gone along with things that I'd been told - some of them years ago, and many by large corporations that would have no concern for my individual benefit.  Sorry may be the hardest word but the most illuminating one I think must be 'WHY'.

Why do we, the only mammal out there that does, consume (and think we NEED) milk after weaning? Why do we need protein from other animals when the largest land mammals get their proteins from plant foods?  Why is osteoporosis on the increase when the very food we're being told will help prevent it is being consumed at an accelerated rate?

I don't have all the answers, but I'm definitely finding more questions and feeling the freedom from doing so.  My challenge for this month is having a solely veggie diet and having loved it will plan to stay this way, moving towards my November vegan based diet challenge, discovering more questions, foods and fun along the way.

Eat well, run with joy and ask 'why?'!

Em x

Happy, happy, happy girl!

Juicing day 4 and the second day for ages (the first was yesterday and before that I seriously can't remember how long) I've woken up with no lower back pain :)

I've got by and carried on by using Homeopathy and Bowen Technique both of which have helped considerably to manage it but these two days I've woken totally pain free.

And all I've changed? I'm on day 4 of my juice detox (just to point out I've not been totally virtuous but mostly!) and am feeling good, bouncy, happy and back ache free!  I've been juicing fresh fruit and vegetables on and off for around 3 years now and would highly recommend it - indeed I know one Homeopath who calls the green juices 'the best life insurance'.  So many reasons why I think it's great but personally having been walking around like a 90 year old every morning for the past few months my absolute alleviation of pain will do for me today!

One happy, happy girl!

I usually follow Jason Vale's 7lb in 7 days which is a fabulous programme but this time opted for the Ibiza Detox Diet Plan for a change and am enjoying that too.  Once you've got the juicer the rest is easy and enjoyable (even cleaning it isn't so bad once you're used to it). Give it a go - what've you got to lose?


Just a little note to mention that in these times it's probably relevant to say that juicing with it's many wonders should not replace medical care.  However it may mean that you need less conventional medical attention should you eat a more plant based instead of processed diet and juicing is a great way to kick start this and give your system a rest from those difficult to digest foods that we weren't designed to eat.

One step at a time...

Earlier this year, a friend asked whether I'd like to swim the Great North Swim - a mile in Windermere - with her.  Having asked the previous year and recieved a wimpy 'no' she, being an optimist, asked again.  And this year, based around my saying yes to what comes along and seeing where it leads - it was a resolute YES!  (Although I do admit, somewhat wimpily followed by worrying about the amount of kit I'd need, costs etc for wetsuit, training and race entries.)

So very glad it was a yes now looking back on it.  Dutifully I trotted along and purchased the most expensive piece of clothing in my wardrobe, a full body suit made out of rubber (which coming to the end of the season I'm considering trading in for an upgrade - more rubber in the wardrobe!).  At the time I was convinced it would be a one hit wonder and would wear it, sell it on eBay then be onto the next challenge.  Little did I know!

As yet I haven't swum in Windermere as the swim was cancelled with extreme weather making it impossible for the safety crew to be, well safe in their cayaks (that challenge will be next year in June, followed by the Winderemere Olympic distance Triathlon in July), but have swum several other miles in Open Water settings and race environments.  I am absolutely in love with being outside in the water in a way that I never quite expected to experience.  I feel very fortunate and grateful to everyone who's been a part of my journey so far whether that been to have given tips and support, laid on the water in a star shape at the side of me, or the ones who recommended the sexy rubber swimming hats for the really good look out on the water.

Inspired by other members of Craven Energy our local Triathlon club (having joined to be able to get open water swimming experience before the big day - yes the one that never came due to bad stormy weather), I decided probably in mid June that I'd take part in a Triathlon or two.  Well that would be sensible, I think I actually decided that I'd like to take part in an Ironman competition...  Researching more, that goal has been put to one side for now whilst I work on shorter distance competitons (and once time for training allows - who knows!)

I've started to run and been building up distances running barefoot using Vibram Five Fingers which is a great experience.  To really feel the surface beneath you, feel your foot moving and without the restriction of conventional footwear has been brilliant.  I do spend most of my time barefoot when I can but these bridge the gap for me til I'm brave enough to go running entirely barefoot....  I would recommend reading around barefoot running before taking the plunge and have particularly enjoyed Chris McDougall's Born To Run as a goog place to start.

Cycling is the next big hurdle but... one step at a time!