Kale super smoothie

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Sorry it’s been a while folks, I’ve been busy studying a very basic course on Naturopathy, it’s just the tip of the iceberg but the knowledge I’ve gained has been very useful so far and it’s a good introduction to Natural medicine etc.  I hope to continue further along with some plant powered study! 😊

So here’s a quick smoothie I knocked up and it was so powerful I went for a run afterwards, my legs are still sore and that was a few days ago ha ha ha!  The black kale plucked fresh out of the garden still covered in the morning dew was absolutely amazing and I could feel the effects of the nutrition immediately lifting my  morning brain fog!  It seriously felt like a light coming on, it could also have been the ginseng kicking in!  I’m so impressed with this stuff it’s definitely on the garden growing list next year!

So I blended it in the vitamix with persimmons (I’m a persimmons addict at this time of year) and a whole orange, a tbsp of pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and some ginseng!  I topped up with water as I had ran out of almond milk!  You could use half almond milk if you prefer.

Black kale (cavolo Nero)

whole orange peeled

persimmons

tsp ginseng

tbsp pumpkin seeds

tbsp of flaxseeds

I should probably add I shared this with the kids!  It’s quite a lot to consume yourself!

Plant powered body fuel!  😎

Locally grown vegetables

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Lovely fresh vegetables from the the Gordon Castle estate local to us in Fochabers, Moray.  I would recommend a trip up to the recently restored gardens and lovely cafe/restaurant.  The shop near the car park usually sells a selection of seasonal foods grown in the gardens.  In the past we have purchased delicious potatoes, tomatoes, courgettes, pumpkin, squash, beans, artichokes and s fee other bits from the shop.

Check out the link below for further info.

http://www.gordoncastle.co.uk

Christmas apple & blackberry gin

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Christmas booze!  I don’t really drink alcohol anymore but I have guests to feed and water at Christmas time so I made this with the berries I foraged for the other day.  When purchasing the gin don’t go and purchase the best one you can find, seriously the cheapest bottle is perfect for this recipe.  In fact I was told the cheaper the better!  If your not an alcoholic drinker then you could also whizz it up into some fizzy sparkling water and serve.

Blackberries (Brambles) 3 or 4 handfuls

Apples chopped

Gin

Kilner Bottle

The blackberries were popped into a bowl and I added chopped apples of the same quantity, not weight quantity but equal visual quantity, a good two cups of sugar or more if you want it sweeter and squeezed it all into a kilner bottle which had been sterilised in a low heated oven for 30mins.  Pop it into the cupboard for three months or longer, shaking gently everyday for 1 month to help the sugar dissolve and then strain and enjoy in time for Christmas.  Obviously it might land on a different time of the year but I am making my gin at the end of September.  Here’s a good link to purchase 4 kilner bottles at a very reasonable price.  Shop around as supermarkets or high street stores always charge top dollar for these items.

Click on the image to purchase a similar kilner bottle.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

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Homemade vanilla extract woop woop!  I am super excited with this and cant wait to try it out.  It was so simple and easy to make even my husband managed it ha ha 🙂

Vanilla beans

Brandy or vodka

Click on the link above to purchase some vanilla beans, I found these were a pretty good price.  Whatever you do don’t buy them from the supermarket, they are usually super expensive.

So…easy peasy…slice the vanilla pods and chop into 1inch pieces, pop them all into a sterilised bottle and fill with your chosen alcohol.  Pop in the larder cupboard or dark place and leave for at least one month.  You can then drain the liquid into a suitable sterilised jar and you can also make a vanilla paste with the leftover beans.  I will post and tag the vanilla paste recipe onto here once my vanilla extract is ready.  I just want to add that this is a fraction of the cost of the extract you can purchase in the supermarket.  Save money and make your own.

Natural Coconut Water

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Natural coconut water is so simple and so refreshing.  Fill up a sports flask with coconut water and half water for pre or post workout drink, also a great drink for the summer garden.  Its Autumn here just now though and I’m drinking my coconuts indoors before I move onto hot cacao drinks mmmm…

Coconut water is a great natural electrolyte, and it contains high amounts of potassium. It is also lower in carbohydrates — It only contains about 4.5% carbohydrates, whereas typical sports drinks can contain a 6%-8% carbohydrate concentration. (Dr. Axe)

My son drank two of these after school the other day, they are expensive fresh and I cant keep up with that demand ha ha!  You can buy a good high quality coconut water from the supermarket but most of them are heat processed and I try to avoid pasturised drinks where possible, simply because pasturisation in most cases = high heat which in turn destroys some of the nutrition (not all of the nutrition though), they are still beneficial to your health in some aspects though. Coconuts are not always easy to obtain fresh though and if I cant get them fresh the pasturised stuff is second best.

Also a great addition to smoothies and deserts, some raw desserts use coconut water in the blending processes.

Here are some additional facts in the links below.

https://www.davidwolfe.com/how-coconut-water-can-help-your-body/

If you are looking to purchase coconuts in bulk, which is possible via mail, then you can purchase them in a 6 or 12 pack by clicking on the image below.  If your not using many though I would purchase a 6, I have purchased a 36!! before and they all went off before i got through half of them.

Click on the image to order coconuts

 

Blackberry (bramble) picking

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We were talking the other day on our way to a birthday party about how awesome it would be to pick some fresh and wild blackberries (brambles).  When we arrived and to our surprise out of the kitchen window there was a huge blackberry bush. I grabbed a bowl and went out to inspect.  There were loads of ripe and ready to pick brambles.  All the scratches and scrapes were worth it as we gather a massive bowl up.  When we got back I made a blackberry and apple gin which will be ready in time for Christmas and a blackberry jam for my kids.  I’m not particularly keen on high sugar content jams but I needed to preserve them quickly as they were starting to spoil only after day two after picking.  So a high heat recipe was required.

If I were to come across such treasures again I would blend them up immediately into a smoothie when I got back to my kitchen as the nutritional content of blackberries is really high and they contain all sorts of goodies like vitamins A, C, and K, magnesium, potassium, and fiber.

“Vitamin A helps maintain eye health while vitamin C promotes wound healing, keeps gums healthy and helps the body absorb iron. Vitamin K, along with magnesium, are important in promoting bone health. Potassium plays a role in health blood pressure levels. And fiber helps control cholesterol and keeps you regular.” http://www.livestrong.com/article/110325-blackberries-nutrition

If you fancy trying your hand at foraging then check out the book below with a variety of things you can find for free in the wild.  Its so satisfying to go out and find something so satisfying in the wild.

Click on the book above for some more foraging adventures.

Veggie feast!

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I was so hungry tonight and in desperate need of a veggie feast after a crappy food week!  My new vitamix professional blender arrived yesterday and anyone that owns one will understand my excitement and inspiration to get cooking again.  It is an amazing machine and I’ve waited very impatiently for three years to own one…finally my blender dreams have come true ha ha ha!  Check on the picture below for a full spec.

So to give my vitamix a workout I made a cauliflower cream sauce to cook my thinly sliced potatoes and onions in the oven and topped with nutritional yeast…also know as “cheese” sprinkles in my house!  😊

Then I blended up some garlic cloves with alpro soy cream and spinach.  I cooked this lightly in the pan to create the spinach sauce for the top of the courgette fritters.  These were so simple and I made them by grating the courgettes and adding peppers and seasonings, then fried lightly in a little coconut oil.  To top it off I added some fried mushrooms in the non stick (I try to use little oil) and chipotle sauce!  The tomatoes were fresh out of the greenhouse and were super sweet on the side.

I added a huge dollop of high quality BBQ sauce and a blob of coconut oil on top of the kids potatoes for some extra fats!  I also gave them a cheeky, cacao, banana, peanut butter with a dash of soy cream on the side smoothie which they had double helpings of.

A meal full of protein, iron, vitamins and about nine different veggie ingredients, it makes me feel super happy when my kids pack themselves full of nutritious foods.  They certainly don’t all of the time, kids are kids and they are free to eat as they wish but I hope to inspire them! 😍

Superfood for super kids! 😎

All of the recipes are available in the menu and will be posted soon. 😎  I love it how blogging makes me hungry again lol!  Mmmm what to eat now…

ps – I am a vitamix blender addict now! 😊

Quesadilla – Spicy

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Quesadillas made with leftover Mexican chipotle tofu and tomatoes, toasted in the frying pan.  These are so easy and quick to make for lunch, they literally take ten minutes to prepare.  Just pop a tortilla in the pan, fill half with ingredients of choice and fold over.  Toast on both sides until ready, plate it up and slice like a pizza! 😊  Ingredients that can be used are as follows…

wraps

mexican leftovers

tomatoes, avocado, onion etc.

cheese

chilli sauce

 

Cherry cacao smoothie

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Cherry and cacao smoothie, recipe adapted from the book below.

Fresh cherries ((handful)

2tbsp of cacao nibs

cavolo Nero (kale)

banana

2 tbsp chia seeds

Apple juice

Add all of the ingredients to the blender and top up with the apple juice to required consistency.  Delicious! 😄

 

 

 

Cavolo Nero

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Cavolo nero (black Tuscan kale) – I love it! 😍

This bad boy is packed full of goodness, here’s a wee link to the honestly healthy blog where they list the benefits of this beautiful vegetable.  I think it looks so pretty with the orange flowers in background.  I’m amazed I grew this at all, my previous attempts at growing vegetables have not been very fruitful.  I tend to juice this mostly with apples, it’s amazing! 😊

kale foodie info