day 61 - food journal

what wonderful weather that we had today, in fact we have had amazing weather all weekend.  i rode to and from work this morning and felt amazing.  then i got a headache this afternoon, grrr it was terrible.  i went for a quick walk around the block to try to get some fresh air to try to help it go away.  i think it was from being in front of the computer all day... hmm it may be time to get my eyes checked.  here is my food journal for the day:


breakfast: super smoothy made with, coconut milk, 2 bananas, chia seeds, honey, frozen berries
snack: medjool dates, nectarine
lunch: 1 large carrot, 1 half small tub of all natural yoghurt
dinner: fish, goats cheese, tomato


exercise: rode to and from work, this is the easiest way to blast off calories.


can you walk, run or ride to work?  how about tomorrow, you try to walk to work.  if work is to far away why not park 2km away and walk the rest of the way.  incidental exercise is the easiest way to smash off extra calories throughout your day.


yours in health


NK x

super food saturday - chia seeds

here are ten benefits to using chia seed in your life.  chia seeds are:

1. nutritious.  chia seed provides ample calcium and protein to your tissues.  the seeds are also rich in boron, which helps the body assimilate and use calcium.  the nutrients also support proper brain functioning.

2. water loving.  the seed can soak up ten times its weight in water.  do this fun experiment.  put one tablespoon of chia seed in a cup of water and stir.  wait a few hours and see what happens.  when inside your body, the seeds help you stay hydrated longer, and retain electrolytes in your bodily fluids.

3.  easily digestible.  the shells are easily broken down, even when swallowed whole.  this is an improvement over flax seed, which have to be ground up to be digested properly.  if you eat flax seed whole, it will just pass through.

4.  Add healthy omega-3 oil to your diet.  Omega-3 oil is usually thought of as “that healthy stuff in fish”. But, what if you don’t want to eat fish every day? Chia is the richest plant-source of this healthy oil. By weight, chia contains more omega 3 than salmon, and it still tastes like whatever you want! Omega 3 oil is important in heart and cholesterol health. It’s also recently been targeted as a weight-loss helper. USA Weekend magazine also reports on a study where overweight dieters who included omega 3s in their eating plan lost 2 more pounds monthly than the control group, who did not.

great comparisons for chia seeds

5. mild tasting.  unlike some seeds, the flavor is very mild.  the mild taste makes it easy to put in sauces, smoothies, breads, puddings, and whatever you want.  they won't really change the taste, but will add to your nutrition!

6. energy enhancing.  the health pioneer paul bragg did an experiment an endurance hike with friends.  they divided up into a chia-eating group and another group, who ate whatever they wanted.  the group eating only chia seeds finished the hike four hours, twenty seven minutes before the others, most of whom didn't even finish at all.

7. versatile.  the seeds can be used to replace less-healthy fat in just about any recipe.  you can use them uncooked in salad dressings, spreads, fruit shakes, ice cream, and just about anything you want.  you can also add them to cookies, cakes, muffins, and other baked goods.  i usually just mix in a couple of teaspoons to my juice or water and drink them down!

8. slimming and trimming.  yes, the seeds will help you lose weight, for two reasons.  the first reason is that they are so filling that you will eat less of other foods.  the second reason is that they actually bulk up and cleanse your body of old "junk" in your intestines. 

9. endurance enhancing.  chia seeds are known as the "indian running food".  also, the ancient aztec warriors used chia seed during their conquests.  i'm a runner, and i've used chia seed to enhance stamina and endurance on my mountain runs, some of which are several hours long!

10. regenerating.  after eating, the nutrients travel to the cells very quickly due to the ease in digestion and assimilation.  use them when you want to build or regenerate healthy body tissue.

we all know if we eat a better diet we will be healthier.  the problem with this statement is most of us can not find the time and or resources to buy and prepare all of these good foods and add them into our diet everyday.  high quality chia seeds are a complete raw food that can be used as a meal replacement and or added for it’s chia nutritional value to our diet.  see the chart above for great comparisons.

i also incorporate chia seeds into my cooking, and in the morning to my smoothies.  It is a great thickening agent as well, a lot of vegan chefs use chia seeds in place of eggs.

why not give chia a try.  you can pick up a small bag from your local supermarket (ie. coles and woolies)

hope your having a healthy saturday!

NK xx

food journal - a realization

Ok, so my goal of eating only unprocessed foods for 365 days was a little unattainable.  But I’m still enjoying this journey.  Since I started eating this way I have officially lost 6kg, my skin is clearer and brighter and I have energy like there is no tomorrow.

I like to think back to the weekend that I did the juice detox, I drank nothing but juices on Saturday and then Sunday morning, I got up and went for a huge bike ride, I really didn’t think that I would have the energy to go as far as I did, but I felt great, I felt better than if I had had a big pasta meal for dinner the night before.  Eating a giant meal of pasta made me feel heavy not light and full of beans.

I just want to clarify with you that for 90% of the time I still eat unprocessed, clean food.  It’s just if I go out for dinner, I still order the best thing on the menu for me, the least processed meal, and I’m just not worrying so much about the sauces that might come with that meal.  It just means that if my partner and I want to go and get gelato from the new little Italian grocers down the road, I’m not going to say absolutely not, but yes I can have this once in a while.  So essentially I’m giving myself two meals a week that might not be as clean.  But I’ll never go back to having a super creamy pasta dish, or eating heaps of chocolate biscuits, that stuff still makes me feel awful.

Ok so here’s what my food journal looks like today:

Breakfast: 1 handful of fresh cherries

Snack: nectarine, snack dates, 85% cocoa green and black’s organic chocolate (about 3 squares)

Lunch: avocado

Dinner: quinoa with goats cheese
Desert: banana ice cream (its sooo hot here today and i needed to cool down)


Exercise: rode to and from work, 15 min pilates :)

Watch this space also, I'm working on 10 min Pilates video sessions, hopefully will launch the videos this sunday - yay!


NK x

chicken skewers with satay sauce

this meal is a great source of protein, and doesn't skimp out on flavor.  i've tried to buy organic as much as possible for this recipe.  my one tip is that if you can't buy organic chicken, make sure that you remove the skin because that's where many of the toxins are stored.  here's how to make it:


for the sauce:
ingredients
half red onion
clove of garlic
1 stalk of lemon grass
1 cup peanuts 250ml coconut milk
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 chilli chopped up finely (if desired)


directions
place the chopped red onion, clove of garlic crushed and stalk of lemon grass finely chopped into the fry pan.  cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes; remove from heat.  In food processor, crush the peanuts; add the onion mixture, the coconut milk, cumin, fresh lime juice, sea salt, soy sauce and chilli.  Process until smooth.  (you can also make this in a blender)

not much for left overs... had to be good :)

for the chicken skewers:
ingredients
1 double breast of chicken
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon of coriander leaves crushed
1 large clove of garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 stalk of lemon grass, chopped lengthways in half.


directions
in a bowl, place the fish sauce, sesame oil, lime juice, coriander, garlic, cumin and lemongrass; stir to mix well.  place cut up chicken into the mixture and allow to stand covered for at least 20 mins - the longer that you leave it marinating the better the flavor.  Once you've let stand, thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers.


Cook chicken under a hot grill, i used my george forman to cook mine.  make sure that the chicken is cooked through so its not pink inside.


serve with the satay sauce and enjoy.  o and there wasn't much for left overs, that's gotta mean it was good - yay.



NK x 

sweet potato hummus

the humble sweet potato is an ideal food for dieters to ward of hunger.  its orange flesh is high in carotene's and cholesterol-lowering compounds.

sweet potatoes are richer in nutrients than potatoes and lower on the glycaemic index, and so are of benefit for diabetics and dieters and for regulating blood sugar levels.  They also contain plant sterols and pectin that can help lower 'bad' blood cholesterol.  They are extremely high in beta-carotene as well as being an excellent source of vitamin E, magnesium and selenium.

this sweet potato hummus tastes great and is really easy to make.  this is what you'll need:

ingredients

• 1kg sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

directions

1. set a steamer basket in a large pot. fill with enough water to come just below basket; bring to a boil. Add potatoes; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. transfer to a food processor.
2. combine chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, oil, cumin, and garlic in the food processor. puree, about 1 minute; thin with water if necessary. season with salt and pepper and let cool; refrigerate, in an airtight container, up to 1 week.

why not give this a go over the weekend, its great to have in the fridge to snack on with celery, carrot and capsicum sticks.

NK x

happy australia day

i hope everyone enjoyed their australia day celebrations yesterday.  we did have a trip to fraser island booked, but due to the crazy rain that we had early this week we decided to post pone that trip till easter.  i have my fingers crossed for great weather at easter.


know i have today off and i'm super keen to do some cooking today and try out some new things. i've been very busy lately, and i have actually found some time today to tell you all about some things that i have found and been trying.

breakfast

on my list of things to cook today is sweet potato hummus, this sounds so delicious and i think will be a nice alternative to the traditional hummus.  i'm hoping that the taste of this one will be a little more crowd pleasing than the traditional hummus as well.


i'm also going to try chicken skewers with a nutty sauce for dinner.  i'll make plenty of these so that we have heaps to eat over the weekend.



i've started my day off with roasted cherry tomatoes and sauteed herb mushrooms, absolutely delightful.  to make this, i chopped in half about 8-9 cherry tomatoes and sprinkled a little pink rock salt on top and popped them into the oven, set at about 180 degrees.  i then chopped the mushrooms in half and placed in a fry pan on medium heat.  i added some different herbs and spices, be creative add which ever herbs and spices that you like best, then added about a tablespoon of water, or enough to just coat the bottom of the pan, then covered the pan with a chopping board, leaving just enough room for the steam to come out.


i always use water to cook my mushrooms now, and stay away from any oils and fats, as this cooks them a lot nicer and holds a lot more flavor and moisture.


be back with you shortly with some recipes.


yours in health


NKx

Ride to Conquer Cancer

a good friend of mine is embarking on a great mission to raise money for cancer awareness.  i know that cancer has touched the lives of almost everyone in some way or another.  i feel as though we can never give enough to support funding for this disease.


you can click through to the links below to help support her and you can also follow her journey buy clicking through to her blog here.  here is a little about rebecca and her story:

Please Support My Ride to Conquer Cancer™

Recently I found out that a family friend has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour at the age of 13!

Feeling rather helpless, and also feeling very guilty for taking my 'health' for granted, I decided that enough was enough.

As most of you know, I am certainly not the fittest nor am I the most sporty person you will come across, but I plan to reach my goal regardless.

It is time for me to get fit, and I am excited to be raising funds for ALL cancer related research in the process.

My challenge!!

To be fit enough to ride 200+ kilometres by the 18th August 2012 over two days, and to raise a minimum of $2,500 to be able to participate in the ride.

The Rio Tinto Ride to Conquer Cancer is a cycling journey throughout Queensland's scenic countryside that I’m embarking on to fight cancer. 

It will be a challenge in a number of ways, but with my bike, my helmet, and your generosity, a real impact will be made! 

To give you an idea of what 200+ kilometres LOOKS LIKE, below is a rough map of my journey ONE WAY!!!

So what I am asking of you......?

Please cheer me on if you can, hold me accountable if I slacken off with my training...and most importantly... PLEASE DONATE to this excellent cause!!!

Funds raised in The Ride to Conquer Cancer will support breakthrough research, exemplary teaching, and compassionate care at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research,
a worldwide leader in cancer research and discovery and one of the largest research institutes in the southern hemisphere.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Rebecca Andrews