Day 3 Master cleanse

Well, day 3 is almost over and it's been very good! I'm really surprised but I'm not feeling hungry at all this time around and haven't had any nasty detox symptoms as yet. Although it is only day 3 so plenty of time for that to kick in! The salt flush is still revolting but it it is still doing the business. I keep having to blow my nose too, though I don't have any other cold symptoms, I think a lot of mucous is being loosened from everywhere! (Did you want to know that? ;))

Still have plenty of energy too. In fact the last 2 nights I have found it really hard to get to sleep. Maybe because I had been getting used to the instant sleep brought on by a couple of glasses of wine in the evening that now I'm not having! But I was tossing and turning for a couple of hours after going to bed which doesn't usually happen to me. So I went into Brixton today and got some of the brilliant sleep tea from Brixton Whole Foods (I love that shop) which should do the trick. Although drinking that before bed, on top of a laxative tea, loads of water and all the lemon drinks I'll no doubt be waking up to pee in the night instead! I'm also putting lavender oil on my pillow and am about to have a hot bath- hopefully this will all work! I put a big handful of Himalayan crystal salt in the bath to help with the detoxifying process and weirdly really wanted to eat some, so I sucked and crunched a few crystals too (out of the packet, not out of the bath!)and it was good! Is that weird?

I've also been doing skin brushing in the mornings which is great for detoxifying- the skin is the largest organ in your body so a lot of toxins get eliminated through the skin, and brushing with a natural bristle brush really helps the process.

I've been increasing the amount of cayenne in my lemonade quite a bit too because as well as aiding with eliminating it has so many other great health benefits. And I love a bit of spice! Here's a good link for more cayenne info: http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/cayenne.htm

Oo oo I almost forgot, I got a Vitamix today! Well, it hasn't actually arrived yet, but I ordered it. SO excited, I've wanted one for so long. As I was channel hopping today I stumbled across "Vitamix special" on the Ideal World channel, where they were selling them with £50 off, plus you could pay in monthly installments... it was a sign that I had to get one... so I did! Can't wait to start using it when the cleanse is over. Really looking forward to getting back on the raw. Already feeling so much better for 3 days off SAD food.

Well, I'm off to soak in my hot bath now. Night x.

Detoxing with the master cleanse

Oops... it's been flippin ages since I blogged here! I did struggle a bit with staying raw when it was so cold, and fell off the raw wagon somewhat. So now I am back on the master cleanse to re-set myself and get myself back into the raw groove.

I'm drawing to the end of the second day and so far so good. It's a lot easier than last time I did it as I'm on holiday from work, which definitely helps. Also, the last time I only tried the morning salt water flush once and it didn't work at all so I didn't do it again ... however, this time, completely different story! I did it this morning, and yes, it's quite revolting to drink, but boy did it ever work! Last time, it just swished around inside me and nothing came back out, but this time I had several 'movements'  (tmi? hee hee) and definitely feel like the detox is working. I think it's because I've got a better quality salt- Maldon sea salt flakes, which have no additives and are non-iodised. I can' remember what I used last time. I put in two pretty generous teaspoons of salt to make sure it worked- I may not have used enough for my body last time.

This time I got Peter Glickman's master cleanse book (on my new Kindle, which I totally love, but that's another story) Lose Weight, Have More Energy & Be Happier in 10 Days, Second Edition, and reading it I learnt a lot more about the benefits of the cleanse and the process of cleansing the toxins from the colon, so I feel I am really detoxing, and not just looking at it as a weight loss thing. I definitely need to cleanse my system, I have been eating fairly unhealthily at times over the festive period, as well as drinking alcohol, which I know doesn't agree with me, so I really need to detoxify my liver and colon.

I had a massive burst of energy this evening- my bathroom has never been so sparkling- but I suspect this won't last as day 3 (tomorrow) is often the hardest day, detox sympton-wise, but I suppose that's a good thing in terms of cleansing (my body, not the bathroom). The hunger hasn't really kicked in yet either. But I have been peeing ridiculously, I'm in and out of the loo at the moment! I'm sure that's good too though, more stuff passing through me helping the cleansing process, and I am drinking a ton of water as well as the lemonade drinks and peppermint tea, so it's only to be expected.

I read in the book that if you get a craving for something specific it is most likely what your body is currently eliminating and the craving will probably be gone the next day after the morning 'elimination'. Someone said funghi on TV this morning and I suddenly wanted a mushroom pizza, so I suspect that is true! It's also imprtant to recognise the distinction between craving and hunger, which I am working on.

Well, I'm going to make my laxative tea and have an early night, but I will keep updating on my progress through the master cleanse if you're interested to read it. If not, I will be back on the raw food after this 10 days is over, so do check back then!

8 more days to go and then I can have fresh orange juice...mmmmmmm! x

I'm back... with cheezy kale chips!



Kale chips coming out of the dehydrator



Hello! Well I haven't updated this blog in a while for a few reasons. Been debating whether or not to go into it all here, but I've decided not to bore you too much for now! One reason was because of being in a play- rehearsing evenings and weekends as well as doing the day job didn't leave me with much time to make anything exciting. And some other stuff going on. But that's all over now and I am back on track! Last night I made Cheddar Kale chips from Ani's Raw Food Essentials: Recipes and Techniques for Mastering the Art of Live Food. I LOVE kale chips, they're so addictive. I have just eaten the whole lot this morning, an entire bunch of organic curly kale! They had red pepper, cashew nuts, olive oil, agave and water in... I think that's it. Hmmm, maybe something else too but I can't remember what... I'll check later.



Ani Phyo's cheddar-kale chips



They were good, but I have to say, my favourite kale chips recipe is one I made from the Renegade Health Show a while ago. They were so tasty, just thinking about them makes me want them again. So I'm going to buy more kale later and maybe do those tonight or tomorrow. Check out the link above and give them a go, there's a video too. They're less sweet than Ani's ones- that's what I liked least about her's- they have agave in which made them sweeter than I'd like. I like it savoury! Anyway, just a quick post to let you know I'm still here, I haven't forgotten about this blog! I'm fully back into creating raw food recipes now and will be making a lot more and putting them up here soon.

The next thing I really want to make is a raw version of scones with jam and clotted cream from Ani Phyo's book. Sounds amazing right?! Can't wait to see how they turn out. So bye for now, but I promise to be back soon with more raw food dishes.

Ani Phyo's Korean 'stir-fried' kelp noodles with vegetables (Jap Chae)

I just made the most deee-licious dinner! Jap Chae kelp noodles, from Ani Phyo's new book
Ani's Raw Food Essentials: Recipes and Techniques for Mastering the Art of Live Food
It was utterly gorgeous. This link shows her making a version of it on a TV appearance but it's a bit different to the one in the book- I think she's simplified it a bit for live TV ease! The one in the book (that I made) also has spinach, garlic and agave in it and the shiitake mushrooms and onions are marinated in tamari (or nama shoyu or braggs) for at least 20 minutes first. Oh it was amazing. Just like a 'regular' stir-fried rice noodle dish, only better!
I found a great way of making the noodles really soft too. When they first come out of the pack they're quite crunchy, and thin. I put them in a bowl of pure water with the juice of 2 lemons and a crushed clove of garlic and left them to soak and soften for 2 hours, which helps breaks them down. Then I rinsed them and left them in a bowl of warm water for another few hours (or do it overnight) and they ended up soft, fat and plump, mmmmm!
This dish is so quick and easy to make too, no equipment needed except a bowl, a chopping board and a knife! If you're new to raw foods, I really recommend you try it. Kelp noodles are not that easy to get in the shops over here but you can easily order them online, here's one place, Kate Magic's lovely site Raw Living and for this recipe one package serves 4. Go on, give it a whirl, you won't regret it!

Buckwheat crispies, almond milk, jalapeno burgers, spicy mayo

Delicious lunchbox salad with olives,
caperberries, carrot, tomatoes, mixed sprouts,
peppers & other lovely things that I can't remember...

Haven't written for a while as I've been mad busy with rehearsals, as well as being back at the day job so I've been pretty much been sticking to eating some old staples that are quick and easy to make. At my colonic last week, the therapist told me that there was too much sugar in me, which was causing me to be bloated, so advised me not to have too many smoothies. I think this was probably also down to starting drinking wine again which is full of sugar and very bad for fermenting inside you! There is quite a lot of debate in the raw food world around smoothies, largely due to the high sugar content. Victoria Boutenko was pretty much the first to start the "green smoothie revolution" and a lot of people follow this and feel great, but others, including some at the Hippocrates Health Institute, are not into blending at all, and think juicing is much better. So although I do love starting the day with a green smoothie packed with superfoods, I've been alternating them with raw cereals.

Buckwheat crispies with almond milk

I made a big batch of buckwheat crispies, which are really easy to make and they stay fresh for months, in an airtight container. All you do is soak raw buckwheat groats in pure water overnight, rinse them really thoroughly, then dry them in the dehydrator for about 6 hours. I first got this recipe from Ani Phyo's books, and she recommends dehydrating for 3-5 hours, but it think it takes less time in LA as it's so flippin hot there all the time, whereas we can't rely on such good weather here in London! They are quite plain tasting, kind of like Rice Krispies, but much more nutritious! I have these with almond milk, which is delicious and also really easy to make. Soak half a cup of almonds overnight, then drain and rinse them, and blend them up for a minute or 2 with a couple of dates (depending on how sweet you like it, you can add more if you wish), a litre of water and a capful of natural vanilla extract (optional). Then you strain it through a nutmilk bag, or muslin, or a sieve would probably work. It keeps for 4 or 5 days in the fridge- it will separate, don't worry about that, it's normal, just shake it back together again! You can also add raw cacao powder to this to make chocolate milk, then it's kind of like Coco Pops!

I've been eating jalapeno burgers a lot too- I realise I keep going on about them but have never given the recipe. The recipe I use is based on the recipe here: http://www.rawfreedomcommunity.info/forum/showthread.php?t=3467 but I make a lot more and slightly alter the amounts, and made the preparation a bit easier as I'm a lazy cow so just bung it all in the food processor basically, instead of having to do lots of fine chopping! And dehydrate longer too. So here's the recipe I use:

Jalapeno burger, mixed sprout salad, marinated mushrooms,
cherry tomatoes with coriander. Lovely lunch.

Soak 3 cups walnuts for 6 hours and then put them in the food processor with 3/4 cup soaked sundried tomatoes and 1/4 cup soaking water. Grind it up until you get a kind of mince texture and put in a big bowl. Then put 2-6 chillies in the food processor, depending on how spicy you like your burgers! I usually add 2 scotch bonnets or 4-6 jalapenos, but for me, the spicier the better. And I love the rich, earthy flavour that jalapenos add to food, not just the heat, so these are my favourite chili. Then also put in 2 small onions, 2-3 tablespoons tamari, a few twists of salt and black pepper, and some cayenne pepper if you want it spicier! You only need to chop these ingredients roughly before putting in the food processor. Blitz it all up until it's finely chopped, then mix it all in with the nut mixture. Form the mixture into burgers- this makes about 18 when I do it, but it depends how big you want them! I roll a spoonful into a ball, then flatten it and put it on the dehydrator tray. I usually dehydrate them for about 6 hours, 3 on each side. They are sooooooo good!

I also made this spicy mayo/dip to go with the burgers and salad, which came out really good:

Rubbish picture of spicy mayo

1 cup cashews, soaked 2 hours

Juice of 1 lemon (approx 2-3 tbsp)

1/2 tsp cayenne

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 large clove of garlic

1/2 cup water

1 dash salt

Put it all in the food processor and blend until smooth. That's it!

I have finally got new batteries for my camera, so you won't have to put up with rubbish mobile phone pictures after today's entry! I promise to use my actual camera and take better pictures from now on!

Homemade chocolate tart

My chocolate tart

Well, I got a bit experimental in the kitchen this afternoon and came up with this chocolate tart which I am quite proud of! It's quite decadent but it's very rich so you only need a small slice! The crust is sweet and coconutty and the filling is a velvety, moussey, chocolatey mouthful of deliciousness! (If I say so myself!) Here's the recipe:

Crust:
1 1/2 cups hazelnuts
1/ cup shredded coconut
Dash salt
1/ 4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup agave nectar

Grind the hazelnuts, coconut and a small pinch of salt in the food processor to a crumb-like texture.
Then add the coconut oil (melted over a bowl of warm water first) and agave and mix in til it comes together.
Then press the mixture down in a pie dish to form a crust.
Then put it in the freezer to set while you do the next bit.

Filling:
1 1/2 avocados (I know, sounds weird, but just go with it- you would never know there is avocado in this when you taste it! It gives it a lovely velevety, rich texture, just believe me and try it!)
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 cup agave
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 capful natural vanilla extract
2 tbsps water

Basically, bung it all in the food processor and blend it all up. Add the water last- just enough until you get the right kind of silky texture.

Then get, the crust from the freezer, and spread the chocolate filling over the top. Then I sprinkled some more shredded coconut over the top, more for decoration than anything else. And that's it done, easy peasy!

Natalia Rose's guacamole salad

Thought I'd also share with you a couple of salads I've made recently. Last night I made the guacamole salad from The Raw Food Detox Diet which is possibly my favourite ever salad. It's just avocado, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, coriander, garlic, agave, lime juice (well, I used lemon juice as I didn't have any limes) and salt and pepper, but something about the combination is so delicious. It's really quick and easy too, you just bung it all in a bowl and mix it together. The picture is a bit rubbish as the batteries have gone in my camera so today's pics are all taken with my phone!

Packed lunch salad and black pepper cheeze

I'm also in rehearsals for a play at the moment so I've been making packed lunches to take with me again, and on the left is what I had today. The salad has a mix of different stuff in it- alfafa sprouts, mixed bean and lentil sprouts, sweetcorn, yellow pepper, grated carrot, celery and cress (blast from the past- forgot how good it is!) I've a feeling I've forgotten something else I put in it but can't remember what... but anyway, it was lovely. I also brought some more of that liquid gold elixir dressing to go with it that I've talked about before,  also from Natalia Rose's book. The little tub next to the salad is black pepper cheeze from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. I know I'm always banging on about this book but it is my favourite, I've had it for ages but it's got so many good recipes in it I use it a lot. However, I've just ordered her new book Ani's Raw Food Essentials so I'm really looking forward to that arriving and trying out some of her new recipes. But anyway, the black pepper cheeze from her old one is really tasty. It's made with cashew nuts, and it's so much better than I imagined it would be. Not sure why but I wasn't expecting too much from it, but it's great, quite addictive.

I was going to tell you a bit about the colonic I had yesterday (my first one!) but I've written too much already, but I will just tell you it was great and I thoroughly recommend that everyone gets it done! If you live in London there's a half price deal on at the moment at a brilliant place with great therapists if you go here: http://www.wahanda.com/product/2701-39-for-1-hour-colonic-hydrotherapy-session-facial-or-massage-at-hydrohealing-value-85-save-54/ so it's only £39. I think you have to book the deal by tomorrow night though (Sunday night). And if you go here first: www.wahanda.com/love/kaybee you get another £5 off so it's only £34, bargain. It's through a free beauty newsletter thing called wahanda which has loads of cheap deals and offers. But I definitely recommend it!

Ok, I have written much more than I intended to so I must go now, but might go into more colonic info at a later date if anyone wants to know any more! See ya x

Strawberry shortcake- YUM! Also, marinated mushrooms with broccoli & brazil nut mash and mushroom gravy for dinner.

This picture is not doing it justice!

Last night I made one of my favourite raw dinners, that I hadn't had for a while- marinated mushrooms with broccoli & brazil nut mash and mushroom gravy. It is delicious! It's another one from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen and it's so good, but the mash is very filling and I ate way too much of it! I couldn't get organic portabello mushrooms again though so did it with small organic mushrooms- it still tasted delicious, but you don't get that lovely rich deep texture you get from the portabello ones. The photo is rubbish, it doesn't look that good- I don't think I have a talent in making my food look appetising in pictures! But I swear it's really tasty. So here's the recipe (makes 4 servings):

Steak
4 portabello mushrooms, stems removed
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1/3 c Nama Shoyu (It's a soy sauce but I've never seen it over here. I use Tamari instead, or you could use Bragg's Liquid Aminos though there is some controversy around the rawness of this)
1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary or 1 tsp dried.

In a large bowl, coat mushrooms in oil, tamari, and rosemary. Set aside for an hour or two to marinate and soften.

Brazil-Broccoli Mash
1 clove garlic
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 tsp sea salt ( I use a lot less than this, or it tastes way too salty. I think you only need a dash)
1 c brazil nuts
2 c broccoli, chopped

Process the garlic, pepper, and salt into tiny pieces. Add brazil nuts and process into a powder. Empty this powder into a bowl and set aside. Next, process the broccoli while slowly adding the brazil nut powder back in.

Mushroom Gravy
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
3/4 c mushrooms, any kind
1/3 c water
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp sea salt

Blend olive oil, mushrooms, water, vinegar, garlic, and salt until smooth.

To serve, slice each mushroom into 4 or 5 thick strips and serve on top of a scoop of brazil-broccoli Mash. Drizzle with mushroom gravy, garnish with a sprig of rosemary before serving.

Strawberry shortcake

Then, this afternoon I made raw strawberry shortcake. The last time I made it, I put a photo of it up on facebook and was told it looked like alien sick! So this time I have attempted to make it look a bit prettier! It's based on this recipe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC_r4m6oAzk and if you watch the video you'll see his looks a bit of a mess too! But it really doesn't matter, it tastes fantastic.
 
I made some little changes to the amounts and ingredients in his recipe but it's basically the same. I also don't have a vitamix so I did everything in the food processor which worked just fine. Here's what I used:
 
About 25 strawberries
1 1/2 c nuts (I used hazelnuts and brazils- the hazelnuts gave it a lovely flavour)
1/2 c medjool dates
2 tbsp raw honey (or agave if you don't do honey, or more dates if you don't do agave!)
2 dashes salt
1 dash olive oil
 
Process the nuts and a dash of salt, then add the dates and 1 tbsp raw honey and process until soft and will come together when you pinch the mix, into a kind of dough. Press this down in the bottom of a flan dish or similar.
 
Then process the strawberries (reserving some to slice and put on top for decoration) with a dash of olive oil, dash of salt and 1 tbsp raw honey until it turns into a creamy sauce.
 
Pour the strawberry mix over the base and decorate with remaining strawberries.
 
I thought I'd just taste a little bit while running the washing up water, and ended up having 3 portions! I couldn't stop. I had to cover the rest and put it in the fridge to stop myself. I really recommend this dessert!

Back in gloomy London and so invented a warming spicy tomato soup!

So, I wasn't too bad when I was in France, and I started off really well. I brought some jalapeno burgers and flax crackers with me which I had with some big salads. And I had my green smoothie for breakfast every day. I did go out for lunch a couple of times though and had a goat's cheese salad and a greek salad so wasn't entirely raw, but was pretty healthy considering it's not easy to eat out vegetarian in rural France, and definitely not vegan! I did drink a ridiculous amount of wine while I was there though... got to try to get back on the wagon again now.

I had a lovely few days in France. It was boiling hot and sunny every day, 40 degrees on the last day, which was actually getting a bit too hot, even for me- a massive sun worshipper- and I had to move into the shade! Then a couple of hours later I stepped off the plane in Stansted into the most gloomy depressing weather, relentless rain, black skies and really cold. I hate this climate! I would be sooooo much happier if I could wake up every day with the sun shining.

At the moment everything I want to eat is spicy, I think it's the general dampness of the climate which I'm finding really depressing. Makes me want to warm things up a bit, and chili is the best way I have at the moment! Ginger and garlic are great for warming you up too. I'm going to make some more jalapeno burgers tonight, I think I might be addicted to them! I'm definitely addicted to chili. I'm rehearsing a play at the moment so even though I'm on leave from work for another week I'm still bringing packed lunches and snacks with me whenever I leave the house, so the burgers will be great for that.

Spicy tomato soup

I've just made a spicy tomato soup that I invented the recipe for myself and it turned out really good. It's also really easy- just bung everything in the blender! Here's the recipe:

3 large fresh tomatoes
1 small onion
1 stick celery
1 clove garlic
1 red chili
1/2 avocado
1/8 to 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes (I used 1/4 cup but next time I'd only use half as much I think)
1/2 cup soaking water from the sundried tomatoes
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
Dash of salt and black pepper

Delicious mixed salad with marinated mushrooms, olives & more!

I've also made some more marinated mushrooms from Ani Phyo's book: Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes, they are so good, I eat them all the time, and had them with a big salad for my lunch yesterday. I couldn't get any organic portabella ones though, so just did it with normal organic mushrooms. And they turned out fine. In the salad I put mixed salad leaves, cucumber, tomatoes, mixed sprouts (mung beans, lentils, chick peas and aduki beans), kalamata olives, green chili and the mushrooms. Just made a quick dressing of extra virgin olive oil and apple cider vinegar which I took separately in a little bottle, as was running late so didn't have time to make anything more exciting. But it was gorgeous anyway. Had the last of my flax crackers with it too... must get round to making some more actually.

The next savoury thing I'm going to make is broccoli and brazil nut mash (yum, it's the best!) with more marinated mushrooms and mushroom gravy, again from Ani Phyo's recipe. So I'll take a pic of that and put it up soon. Need to make something sweet next, another dessert, but not sure what I fancy,  so any suggestions, let me know!

Kale salad

Ok, so this is probably another case of one of my dishes looking revolting but tasting great! I made it from Russell James' recipe for Wilted Kale Salad with a Creamy Chipotle Dressing. I know it doesn't look like much but it is a great, unusual salad. It's got a lovely slightly smoky, spicy taste from the chipotle chili, and a richness from the kale. Word of warning- if you haven't got a Vitamix (which I  haven't YET, it's out of my budget at the moment... but still patiently waiting, one is coming soon right Universe?!) don't bother trying to make the dressing in a normal blender, it's not going to work... believe me, I tried it last time and had no joy. But it works fine in a normal food processor, so just do that if you don't have what they call a 'high speed blender' (i.e. a Vitamix, which are just brilliant... can you tell I really want one...? ;))

Was going to invent a raw soup tonight out of the veggies left over in my fridge at the moment but never got round to it due to eating too many chocolate cookies (see yesterday's post) and flax crackers. I'm going to stay with my dad in France for a few days from tomorrow so made some more crackers and jalapeno burgers to take with me, as you have no idea how hard it is going to be for me to eat raw when I'm there! My dad thinks being veggie is weird enough, let alone vegan, and though he tries to understand, and will eat raw things when I make them for him, I know he thinks people that are raw are a load of crackpots! Which I do understand, it can all seem a bit weird until you find out more about the health benefits. It is a bit frustrating though as he is diabetic, but he won't look properly at any links I send him about how you can cure type 2 diabetes with raw food. He thinks that raw food people are "a load of old hippies from the sixties"!

He is actually a lot better than he used to be though and he does eat more vegetables and salads, and has learnt to make a lentil and vegetable casserole, so he is trying to be healthier. He is also recovering from bladder cancer, my mum died from breast cancer, my uncle has prostate cancer and I also have 2 cousins with breast cancer. So our family history is one of the main reasons why I am taking my health into my own hands and being proactive in trying to attain optimum health. And I have never felt happier or healthier since I started my raw journey.

The burgers I made (currently in the dehydrator) are the best I've ever made- I think I might even persuade my dad to eat them and like them. I've made them bigger and they're a more professional looking round shape, rather than my usual lumpy mess, and they taste great, really spicy. And my flax crackers came out great too. So I may not be able to update for a few days while I'm away but I'll fill you in on my trip when I'm back and if I managed to stay raw. My intention is to do so!

Double chocolate cookies (my own recipe!)

This afternoon I fancied something sweet and chocolatey so thought I'd have a go at making something- I didn't know it was going to be cookies when I started, but the texture of the mixture when I'd finished adding everything seemed to lend itself to making cookies, so that's what they became! I have to say, they are very good, if I say so myself. I don't know the exact recipe as I was kind of adding bits and bobs without measuring them, but if anyone is interested, let me know and I could hazard my best guess. I ground some almonds and pecans in the grinder, then put them in the food processor with raw cacao nibs, cacao powder, medjool dates, coconut oil, goji berries,natural vanilla extract, agave nectar and a little bit of cinnamon and cayenne. I think that was everything. To be honest, you couldn't taste the spices in it at all, so next time I would add more or just not bother with them! I formed the mixture into little balls, flattened them into cookie shapes, then put them in the freezer to set for a few minutes. Now they're in the fridge. Well, most of them are, I've already eaten 5! I was going to make Russell James' Wilted Kale Salad with creamy chipotle dressing for my dinner but I'm not hungry after all those cookies, so the salad will have to wait til tomorrow. It is a great salad though, I love it, so I'll make it for my lunch and put a pic up tomorrow.

For breakfast I got juicing again, and made a really lovely one with oranges, carrot, celery and ginger. It was packed with flavour and really fresh tasting, a great start to the day. Then for lunch I had a gorgeous salad with that liquid gold elixir salad dressing that Sherry told me about from The Raw Food Detox Diet: The Five-step Plan for Vibrant Health and Maximum Weight Loss
In the salad I put mixed organic leaves, plum tomato, cucumber, corn, celery, orange pepper, enoki mushrooms (my new favourite thing!), with some chopped hot chili for added bite and all tossed in that dressing. Yum!!! This pic is from before I added the dressing so you can't really see all the ingredients, but I scoffed it all so fast after I put it on the plate there was no time to take a picture!

I'll be back tomorrow to tell you about that kale salad, and maybe a raw soup too.

Oh wow Chili!!!

Tomato chili with walnut taco meat and sour kream

Well, I ended up staying in tonight after checking my bank balance and discovering I'd spent way more than I meant to this month! So, I got busy in the kitchen and finally made Ani Phyo's chili... oh WOW it was incredible! Utterly delicious, I am definitely going to make this again and again. I made half the recipe, which is supposed to serve 2, and I ended up eating it all, because it was so unbelievably tasty I couldn't stop! Ok, so it doesn't look quite as pretty as the picture on Ani's page but it was truly gorgeous to eat.

There's a weekly farmer's market outside work every Wednesday, with an amazing organic veg stall. They sell a great range of local produce, I always get kale, chard, mixed salad, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries... well loads of things! Anyway, last week he gave me a bag of organic mixed chilies so I added a couple of these to the recipe for an extra kick! I put in 1 (small!) scotch bonnet (oh yes, I'm proper hard, me) and a birds eye one, and they gave it a really lovely flavour as well as some extra heat. I put taco meat on top and made sour kream from soaked cashews, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and just enough water to make the right consistency.

Ani Phyo is fabulous, her books are such a delight- all the recipes are simple, without millions of ingredients and everything tastes great. I love her. And I'm so glad I finally got round to making this chili. It's so easy to do, only takes a few minutes and doesn't need a dehydrator or any complicated equipment. Really fresh and delicious.

I'm going to make some of the liquid gold elixir that Sherry recommended next and bring it work with a big salad for lunch tomorrow. I got some of those enoki mushrooms too, so they will definitely be in it. I'll let you know how it turns out!

The Master Cleanse and Sherry's salad

I haven't talked about it on here before, but just over a month ago I did the master cleanse. It's basically a full-on detox for 10 days, where you have no food, just a drink that you make from fresh lemon juice, grade B maple syrup (or madal bal tree syrup which I used as it contains more nutrients), cayenne pepper and water. It is hard but it is a really great detox. In them mornings you're meant to do a salt water flush- I tried this once, it was revolting, and didn't have the desired effect! It's meant to make you go to the loo and empty it all out of you, but it just stayed in my stomach, swishing around and gave me a massive bloated belly. So I switched to doing coffee enemas, which were really effective and a great cleansing/ detoxifying aid. In the evenings you have a herbal laxative tea. This whole process really cleanses your colon and bowel and I felt lighter and freer at the end of it. It sounds a bit wanky to say this but I really did feel detoxified mentally as well as physically at the end of it.

Then after the 10 days, you need to ease yourself back into food, so you do 2 days of just drinking fresh organic orange juice. To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to orange juice that much, but I got a load of oranges and put them through my juicer and oh my days... it was the BEST orange juice I had ever tasted! After 10 days without food I felt like my taste buds were exploding! Then the next 2 days I just had a variety of different fruit and vegetable juices, to prepare my body for going back to solid food gradually. I made some delicious ones, including carrot, beetroot, apple and celery, and pear and ginger. Yum! But the most interesting thing about this 4 day period was that I started taking psyllium husk to finish off the cleansing process and clear out the remaining debris from my intestines. Oh my gosh, I won't go into detail here but it really does work, you wouldn't believe what starts coming out of you! If you're interested, do a google image search for mucoid plaque (if you're not eating!) and take a look! I have to say, it was quite satisfying! And now I'm fully back on food, my digestion has definitely improved. Probably shouldn't go into any further detail now, don't want to gross people out any more than I already have ;)

Anyway, the results of this were so great- I felt a million times better, really happy, light, healthy and positive, oh and I lost 13lbs (put 2 lbs back on when I started eating again and my colon started filling up again, but hey!) that I kept talking about it to my friends. And Sherry decided to give it a go herself. She'd been having some health issues which doing a good detox and eating more raw foods could really help. She did amazingly, even getting up at the crack of dawn to do the salt flush every morning (well done Sherry!). She's now completed the full cleanse, and is starting to eat raw foods. She made an amazing looking salad the other day which I have to share with you. See the picture below.

Sherry's salad

Liquid gold elixir

It has in it: lettuce, beetroot, cress, marinated courgette strips, grated carrot, marinated corn and red onion, red chili, enoki mushrooms, cashews and sesame seeds. Yum! She also made a dressing from Natalia Rose's Raw Food Detox Diet book, the liquid gold elixir, which she says is possibly the best thing she's ever tasted! That was one of the first raw books I bought, yet I never made that dressing but I am definitely going to make it after that recommendation! Sherry, you are inspiring me.

So,  I still haven't got round to making that chili but tonight that is definitely going to be my dinner. I will let you know how it turns out. It better be good after all my building it up! I'm sure it will, I love all Ani Phyo's recipes. So I'll do another post either later or tomorrow to let you know how the chili was. And I want to get some of those enoki mushrooms- apparently you can get them in Asda, but I reckon I've seen them in the little Japanese shop up the road so will be popping up there in my lunch break. I'll be having a big salad with taco nut meat and sour kream for lunch, and some more crackers (which I've already scoffed...) And I had a delicious green smoothie for breakfast. It's all good!

Wasabi peas need a rethink...

Ewww just a quick one to say my made-up recipe for raw wasabi peas did not work! The peas just shrunk up real tiny, went chewy and the wasabi coating lost all of it's flavour. Gutted cos it was really hot and spicy before I put them in the dehydrator. It fell off the peas and tasted of sawdust. Hmmm. That recipe needs a serious re-write!
However, on a good note, my green smoothie this morning was the best ever... delicious, and packed with superfoods. It was banana, strawberries, goji berries, rainbow chard, bee pollen, camu camu, green powder and a bit of water. I think it's the nicest smoothie I've ever made. I'm taking the MSM separately now as it really is revolting, it tastes like cheap speed, so drinking it dissolved in a bit of water on its own instead of letting it ruin my smoothie.
And that dill cheeze is WAY better today than it was yesterday, must have needed a bit of time for the flavours to take. Had some for my lunch as well as chili burgers, mixed salad and flax crackers. Also had some apple pie mid morning, mmmmm.
Was going to make chili tonight but STILL not managed it... will do tomorrow I swear. I ended up scoffing all the remaining chili burgers tonight. I can't tell you quite how delicious they are. Even if you're not a raw foodie, give them a go, you won't be disappointed. Will write properly tomorrow. x 

Apple pie, chocolate mousse, sunny dill cheeze, taco nut meat, sour kream, jalapeno burgers and possibly wasabi peas!

Well, I've been busy uncooking today, getting loads of things made up for the week so I've got no excuse to be getting unhealthy snacks! My crisp fetish is over and I am fully back on track with the raw. I had to go out for a few drinks after we wrapped the film on Friday night and followed that with some not so healthy food and I definitely don't want to do that any more... so all that unhealthy snacking is out of my system now and I'm back in the zone!

I was going to make Ani Phyo's Tomato Chili for my dinner tonight but because I've been tasting everything else I've been making all day I had no appetite left for dinner! Still I've got the taco meat and sour kream that go with it made up now, and they'll keep a few days in the fridge, so I'll make the chili fresh tomorrow night and have it for my dinner then... looking forward to it, I've never made it before and it sounds delicious.

Apple pie- it tastes better than it looks here!

I made All-American Apple Pie today too, from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen which is one of my favourite ever desserts. It was one of the first raw dishes I made, about a year and a half ago, and at the time it convinced me that a raw lifestyle was possible, after much umming and ahhing and my first few not so successful attempts at making raw recipes. It's so good, I really recommend it- even my dad loves it (who usually stays away from my raw stuff on principle!) and ate about half of a pie when I made some last time I was staying with him. I only made half of the recipe this time as it makes a lot, but doesn't keep too long. It's really delicious, you'd never believe it was raw. I think that you should definitely make this- I promise you will love it.

I also made chocolate mousse from Raw Food Made Easy... ok, so this photo makes it look a bit like poo, but believe me, you would never think this was a raw, vegan dessert. It tastes just like a regular, rich, chocolatey mousse. The secret ingredient is avocado! But I swear you can't taste it in the mousse at all! It's also got raw cacao powder, dates, agave and a bit of water in. Its such a nice treat to have a chocolatey dessert like this and it tastes way better than the non-raw version with dairy etc in. It's gorgeous!

I made more jalapeno burgers too, the same ones I mentioned before, which I think might be my favourite raw thing. Definitely the best raw burger I've had. I make them slightly differently though- I don't put in any hamburger seasoning (what is that??) and I made twice the recipe, which makes about 10 good size burgers for me, and I dehydrate them for about 6 hours instead of 1. Oh, and I only put the temperature at 105 degrees as that's generally felt to be the max temperature for the food to remain raw. They are SO good that I already ate 4 of them which wasn't supposed to happen... just a good job I made double the recipe. They are really tasty and full of flavour, I love them.

I also made sunny dill cheeze from Ani Phyo's book (the same one I linked to above) which turned out ok, but not amazingly delicious. It'll be nice on my crackers with salad and burgers for lunch. But I have say, to not packed with flavour- quite mild but it's not bad.

And finally, I am attempting to make a raw version of wasabi peas! I'm not sure if it's going to work as I just made up the recipe, but they're in the dehydrator at the moment, I'll let you know how they turn out tomorrow. I coated the peas in a mixture of raw wasabi, ground sesame seeds, apple cider vinegar, olive oil and a little water... I'm hoping if they work they'll be a good alternative to my inexplicable cravings for crisps and bombay mix! We'll see... watch this space!

Natural skin care

So tonight I thought I'd write a little bit about natural beauty products. Basically, there are a lot of harsh chemicals in most beauty products you buy which can cause all kinds of health issues. Check out this website, it's scary. You can put in the name of any beauty product and it will tell you about the ingredients. A lot of common products contain chemicals proven to cause various problems with human health, some even have been linked to cancer and other diseases. Try it and see. So now, I make my own skin care products which are really effective, cheap, organic, easy to make and great for my skin.

So I thought I'd tell you about my face products first. For cleanser I use green tea. Just brew one tea bag of organic green tea for 15-30 minutes, then squeeze the bag out and use the tea. I add a little bit of olive oil and a few drops of lavender oil to this. Make it in a small quantity (I do 100 mls a go) as you should make it fresh once a week. Then for toner- half organic apple cider vinegar, half distilled water and a few drops of lemongrass oil, or lemon juice. Moisturiser is organic avocado oil with a few drops of essential oil- I used to use lavender but am using rose now, which is lovely. If you need to put make-up on in the morning, just splash your face with lukewarm water afterwards and pat it dry, and you're left with a great make-up base. In the evening, you can put loads of oil on and leave it as it is overnight. It's really moisturising and softening. It is sooooo good for the skin, check this out for more info on its beneficial properties: http://www.ageless.co.za/herb-avocado.htm

Basic ingredients for naturally healthy skin

The condition of my skin has improved so much since I started using natural products, I really recommend it. I first got into it after a friend showed me a newspaper article about a woman who had switched to making her own products after having serious problems with fibroids, and her doctor believed her condition was linked to the chemicals she was putting on her skin on a daily basis. And according to the article her fibroids did disappear after stopping her harsh skincare regime and switching to a homemade natural beauty routine. And the woman's skin looked amazing, which sold me! I really recommend making your own products, it's so easy, cheap, great for your health and will definitely improve the condition of your skin.

Busy busy busy

Hello! Well it's been a few days since I've updated due to a few reasons- been knackered and busy and feeling a bit rubbish and... not been 100% raw. Well I haven't been dreadful- I've been having my green smoothies for breakfast, and salads, flax crackers, burgers, marinated veg etc for lunch and dinner BUT on Monday when I finished work I was really hungry and craving crisps so I bought a packet and scoffed them while I was waiting for the train home. Then last night I did the same and then I started fantasising about Bountys and in the evening I popped down to shop and got one... However, in my haste I locked myself out! I only bought my wallet with me so I then had to go to an internet cafe, look up my phone contacts on the O2 website, find the number of someone who has a set of my keys, phone her from a payphone, and eventually got back in, phew! Serves me right. Oh and also last night I drank a bottle of wine. It was raw and vegan (Shiraz Rose from Co-op) but drinking a whole bottle when home alone is something I am not supposed to be doing! Finally, today I had another packet of crisps. But that is it now, no more crappy snacking, its not even as tasty as I thought it would be, not sure why I'm doing it. But it's out of my system now and I'm back on track from tomorrow. I'm filming tomorrow and Friday so I'm going to have to make sure I bring a good supply of food with me, as the production company are laying on sandwiches etc and I'm NOT going to succumb!

Mung bean sprouts!

My first crop of mung bean sprouts were ready today, and they're great, really fresh tasting. I did them in a nut milk bag and it was really easy, much less hassle them sprouting in a jar. I didn't make enough though as they'll all be gone in one salad (I like them a lot so have a lot of them in a salad!) so need to do a whole load more.

Flax crackers

My flax crackers turned out great, though not as spicy as before. The recipe called for 3 to 4 fresh chillies and a tablespoon of chilli powder which I thought sounded excessive, but I forgot I only made half the recipe before! So I only put in 2 fresh chillies as well as the powder, so they are quite tasty but not massively spicy like they were before. They are good though and will last a couple of weeks in an airtight container (if I don't eat them all before then!) so they will keep me going for a bit. 

MSM and Camu Camu from
http://www.rawliving.eu/

I got my new supplements delivered yesterday- well I say 'delivered', I actually had to go and fetch them from a postal place in Brixton as they just left a card through my door on Saturday. I was actually in, and if they had bothered to ring the bell they would have discovered this but instead they just left a card so I had to go fetch them. But never mind, I got them in the end! I put them in my smoothie this morning and it was pretty gross. I think it was the MSM, it tasted really bitter! Might have to take that separately or find a way of disguising the taste more. The camu camu is so pretty! It's a pale pink soft powder from a fruit, and contains a really high concentration of vitamin C. I've also been taking a vitamin D supplement as it's really hard to get any of this on a raw vegan diet, especially living in a gloomy climate like this where we don't get nearly enough sun. Ugh, one day I will live somewhere that is sunny every day! How great would it be to wake up to sunshine every morning? I would be so much happier!

Anyway, better go now as I have to get up stupid early and I really ought to have a look at my script as I am slightly concerned about the large possibility of looking like a total nob on film. We taped a bit of what we were doing in rehearsal yesterday and watched it back on the telly and I looked awful!!! It's so hard to find the right level between doing too much and doing too little. Still, there's no point in stressing, I'm just going to do my best see what happens! It's my first proper go at acting for screen and we had absolutely no training in it a drama school so if I'm shit, I'm shit!

Might not get chance to blog again til the weekend, but promise to make some exciting raw stuff this weekend to tell you about. I'm thinking desserts... maybe Ani Phyo's apple pie, also chocolate mousse, and some savoury stuff- gazpacho, more aubergine bacon (I've got a white aubergine from the organic man) and maybe sunny dill cheeze (Ani Phyo again). Also maybe a chilli- the organic man gave me a packet of chillis, include scotch bonnets! Great, never seen organic ones before so looking forward to making something hot and spicy. Well I'll let you know what I make soon. Night x

P.S. Forgot to say I met a friend for dinner at VitaOrganic tonight... except it's not VitaOrganic any more, it's called VitaO. And there's a sign up saying they are under new management and are phasing out the current menu and phasing in new stuff with Eastern spice flavours... I hope this doesn't mean they are phasing out the raw menu, but suspect it does. Disappointing if another raw place bites the dust :(
Had some lovely salads though and a great juice with beetroot, carrots, fennel and stuff... I hope they keep the juices at least...

Had a fun day today, rehearsing for the short film. We've got 2 full days of rehearsal for a 20 minute film, which is amazing, and I'm really enjoying it. So because I was out all day I haven't made too much but I've just made the spicy flax and herb crackers I mentioned yesterday and stuck them in the dehydrator overnight. It was a right faff though as I forgot that I usually only make half the amount in the recipe... I made the full amount and it was too much for my food processor so I ended up having to mix it by hand as soon as I added the ground flax seed, which was a bit more work than I had anticipated for a Sunday evening! So they better turn out good. I also got some more walnut chili burgers out of the dehydrator this morning so got those to go with my lunch in the week.

I brought a packed lunch with me today, but everyone else went to the café for lunch, so I ate mine sat in the sun outside then joined them for a peppermint tea! I had a big salad with various organic leaves and loads of mixed sprouts and peppers with scoops of guacamole, salsa and brazil nut cheeze on top... that brazil nut /sundried tomato cheeze is the business, it's so gorgeous, I could eat it by the bowlful! Also had those raw crackers I bought from Waitrose and a piece of my cake for dessert. The rest of the cast were also having biscuits and cake and coffee during the day... I need to bring some more snacks for myself next time. I've only got to be in the office 2 days next week as I've got one more day off for rehearsal, then 2 days for filming. 2 days at work a week I can handle! But will still need to get organised with the packed lunches.

Anyway, it's getting late now and I want to chill out with a sleep-inducing herbal tea for a bit before I go to bed so I'm signing off for now. My crackers will be done tomorrow so I'll let you know how they turn out. Night night!

Saturday is cake day!

Pretty pink juice

It was so nice to get a good night's sleep last night and woke up feeling much better today. I started the day with a juice instead of a smoothie this morning- beetroot, carrots, celery and apple. Hopefully I'll remember that I had beetroot juice when I get up tomorrow so I don't think I am dying when I go to the loo...

I went shopping in Brixton Wholefoods today, I love that place, and got some really good rose and lavender raw chocolate truffles. Needless to say I scoffed them before I'd got home so no photos of them to put up! Got some other bits and bobs too to make some staples for the week. I forgot to soak nuts overnight last night though so couldn't make my crackers today, so I'll soak them tonight instead. Going to make the spicy flax and herb crackers from the Raw Food, Real World book.

Bit of a rubbish dark picture but this is
Ani Phyo's sundried tomato cheeze- a kind of
pâté made with brazil nuts, lemon juice, garlic
and sundried tomatoes.

Tomorrow I'm rehearsing all day for a short film I'm going to be in, so I'm going have to force myself to make them and get them in the dehydrator when I get back before I go to bed! Thinking about what to bring for a packed lunch tomorrow. I've got some Provençale flax crackers which were a bit of a rip off when its so cheap to make your own, but for convenience's sake, they're good. I made some sun-dried tomato cheeze today too, from Ani Phyo's book, which is delicious, really moreish, so I'll bring some of that too and some salad. I've still got salsa and guacamole left too cos I made WAY to much!

I've just made a tasty raw cake! Ani Phyo's basic flourless cake with "nutella" hazelnut chocolate spread. It's gorgeous, but very rich and filling so you only need a little bit. Which is just as well as there are a lot of nuts in it so it's quite calorific, but worth it for the taste! And with raw foods you digest them a lot easier so don't tend to put weight on when eating raw anyway. You should always soak nuts before eating them or putting them in things because this breaks down and gets rid of the enzyme inhibitors in them, so they're much easier to digest. Brazil nuts and hazelnuts are the exception though as I've read that they don't need to be soaked, but I don't suppose it can do any harm. Different nuts and seeds have different soak times which I'm sure are online somewhere, I use the chart at the start of Raw Food Made Easy, lots of useful stuff in there and good basic recipes that you don't need a dehydrator for.

Well, I've had a very civilised day today, didn't go down to Brighton Pride for debauched times and instead been doing practical stuff around the house, and I'm staying in tonight! But I do have to get up early and get up to North London by half 10 and I'm meant to be familiar with my lines and cues, which I'm not, so better get on and have a look at them! See ya.