Colourful Salad

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

1 red bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper

3 tomatoes

Head of romaine lettuce

Fresh mint 

Chop up the lettuce, peppers and tomatoes add to a large bowl. Add sprigs of mint and serve as a side. Yum!

Mixed Vegetable Stir Fry

Ingredients:

(Serves 1 or 2)

2 carrots

2 celery sticks

1 leek

5 cherry tomatoes

1/3 tin chickpeas - unsalted

Dry or fresh basil

Chop up carrots and celery into thin long strips, chop the leek into 1 cm rounds, chop tomatoes in halves. Heat a large wok to high and add the leak, add 1 tbsp water and stir, add more water if it starts to stick. Make sure there is lots of steam released. Once soft add the carrots and celery. Stir fry until soft then add the chickpeas and tomatoes. Stir and combine until all soft and brightly coloured. Top with basil and serve. 

Spectacular Nectarines!

Ingredients:

(Serves 1) 

8 perfectly squishy and ripe nectarines 

I bought 25 of these when they were hard from my local green grocers for £6. I left them 3 days and bam! Juicy and delicious. Eating these took me to sweet, juicy, scrumptious heaven :) 

Important Tips About Bananas!

So bananas are a great staple for a high carbohydrate low fat vegan diet. They are about 100 calories each, which is perfect for a quick calorie dense meal (about 5-10 for one meal) to keep you going until the next meal. They are easy to eat, just peel and munch. They are very nutritious being about 93% carbohydrate, 4% protein and 3% fat. They also contain about (now you will be surprised) 85% water of their total weight!

However, it is extremely important to make sure they are RIPE before eating.

Here is an example of a very UNRIPE banana:

This should not be eaten yet because it is mainly starches which is hard to digest causing bloating and constipation (too much info sorry). And we know nobody wants that. It is also hard, leaves a film on your teeth and is not very sweet. Therefore it should be left at least 2 days to become more like the one below. In winter it can take up to 2 weeks for them to reach perfect sweetness, so buy in advance. 

Here is an example of a RIPE banana:

In this banana almost all the starches have been converted into sugars which means it is fast digesting, soft, leaves your teeth clean and is delicious. It would be best if left another day or two just to make it extra sweet, but if you just can't wait then this is great. 

Now there is a lot of controversy about bananas. People say, 'don't eat too many or you will get too much potassium'. Now we must remember we need potassium chloride. It is vital for cell function so it is an essential nutrient. It is found in most fruit and vegetables, bananas not even being no. 1. Most people are actually low in potassium. You would need to eat 300 bananas in 30 seconds to get the lethal dose... (Which isn't physically possible aha) before the kidneys excrete it. So bananas are very safe and extremely beneficial for heart and muscle communication and guess what metabolism - yes the potassium helps you lose weight (or gain if your underweight) clever hey! 

I get my bananas delivered from Sainsbury's - £27 for 40kg (about 200 bananas) for mum and I. You can also buy them by the box from Lidl at £12 for 18kg each week. We have a banana cycle where we buy e.g. 40kg allow to ripen then buy another load, then buy the time all the first load are eaten the second load is ready to eat.

I hope this information was helpful, all info adapted from book '80/10/10 by Dr. Douglas Graham' and Freelea - check out her awesome video: http://youtu.be/hMS2pSvVMBY

Fruity Hint: banana skins are pretty good teeth whiteners, rub the inside of the peel on your teeth before you go to bed a couple of times a week and you may see them whitening. Take before and after pictures to see the results. ;) 

Papaya Kebabs

Ingredients:

(Serves 2+) 

1 papaya (30cm long)

Head romaine or cos lettuce

Bunch of red grapes 

Long Sticks

Slice papaya in half, scoop out seeds, score the inner flesh into squares, scoop out with a spoon. Slice the lettuce into inch long pieces and wrap around the papaya. Place on the stick alternating with the grapes. :) perfect for BBQs. 

Cherry Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

(Serves 1)

3 leaves romaine lettuce

8 cherry tomatoes

3 kiwis 

Tear lettuce into pieces, chop tomatoes in halves, slice skin off kiwi and slice into rounds. Serve. 

Rootie Pizza - Grain Free

Ingredients:

(Serves 2-5)

4 large sweet potatoes

2 cups (uncooked measurement) quinoa 

2 tbsp tomato purée

2 tomatoes

1 red bell pepper

10 olives

2 hand fulls spinach 

Rinse quinoa, add 3-4 cups water and bring to boil then simmer for 20 mins. Meanwhile, preheat oven to about 200 degrees Celsius, spread baking paper over 2 baking sheets, then chop the sweet potatoes into thick rounds leaving the skin on. Spread them over the sheets and pop in the oven for about 20-30 mins until very soft. Once done, take them out oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes then peel the skins off and add to a large bowl. Also to the bowl add the quinoa (for a smoother texture add the cooked quinoa to a food processor and blitz until smooth). Using a masher mash the quinoa and sweet potatoes together. Then on the same baking paper divide in two and spread the mixture out thinly (about cm thick). Bake in oven for another 15 minutes until crispy and golden on the edges. Then add your toppings- spread the tomato purée, add the tomato, pepper and olives. Bake for another 5 mins. Then your done, add fresh spinach to top and serve :) 

Banana Milk

Ingredients:

(Serves 1)

 

5-10 ripe bananas 

1 litre water

Peel bananas and add to blender with the water. Pulse until combined. Add ice if desired. Delicious!

Datorade!

Ingredients:

10-30 dates or 10 medjool dates 

Pitt and add to blender with 500 ml - 1 litre water. Blend on full until frothy. Add an ice cube. 

B12 Supplement - Highly Recommended for Everyone

This isn't a recipe today but a little recommendation for all of you out there seeking true health. We need B12 for oxygen transport and for our nervous system. B12 is an essential vitamin which is the waste product of a bacteria found in meat and on plant foods. It is also produced in the intestine near the end of transit. So why would you need a supplement you ask? Well there are three reasons:

1) Plant foods don't contain B12 any more due to commercially produced plant foods. Bacteria produces most of our vitamins and over the decades the soil has become depleted of many bacteria due to pesticides and fertilisers meaning that our plant foods are lower in vitamins than they were only 60 years ago. However, homegrown and organic produce can still obtain plenty of vitamins so definitely try and grow some of your own. 

2) We wash our food. We are lead to think that washing our food will wash off any pesticide residues however this does little use as the food is completely full of the chemicals. In organic homegrown produce B12 clings near stems and in the past people would just eat the produce fresh from the ground, receiving their dose of B12. 

3) It cannot be absorbed by the body. Meat eaters consume enough B12 but aren't always able to absorb it due to the lack of 'intrinsic factor' caused by too much fat in the diet and medication. Therefore, everybody is at risk of developing a deficiency.

Facts from 80/10/10 by Douglas Graham

Courgette Spaghetti and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

(Serves 2) 

2.5 large Courgettes (zucchini) 

3 large tomatoes 

200g cooked brown lentils

1 lemon 

Spiralize 2 courgette with a spiralizer (found on amazon or different type in lakeland) or just use a peeler for tagaltelli. Then blend up the tomatoes, lentils, half courgette and a squeeze of lemon with a hand blender. Then pour over the spaghetti and enjoy. 

Papaya

Ingredients: 

(Serves 1)

Papaya (30 cm long) *

Chop in half, scoop out seeds and dig in with a spoon. Make sure it is ripe - should be a little squishy on the ends and be turning yellow. 

*If they're from Mallorca or any hot country then they will be 30cm long +, however if you are in the UK then expect 10cm ones therefore eat 2 or 3 :) 

Pineapple and Red Pepper Soup

Ingredients: 

(Serves 2)

1 large ripe pineapple (ripe when the bottom smells fruity and the skin is yellow) 

2 large red bell peppers 

1 tomato and parsley (optional)

Chop up the pineapple as shown in my YouTube video: http://youtu.be/CDFF40PdJ9w

Then add to a blender or bowl. Chop up the bell pepper into strips and add too. Then blend together or use a hand blender. Serve and top with tomato and parsley. 

Charantais Melon

Ingredients: 

(Serves1)

1 whole large charantais melon (or 2 small)

Tip: only eat melon on its own and make sure it's on an empty stomach or you may experience some bloating. Also make sure you haven't eaten a heavy meal the night before for best digestion. This is due to it being a fast digesting food which may run into undigested food and cause a traffic jam. :) 

Plums and Banana Sauce

Ingredients:

(Serves 1 or 2)

4 plums quartered

2 apricots quartered

1 orange

4 bananas

 Chop up plums, apricots and orange and add to a cute bowl ( I've used my melon skin from breakfast). To a separate bowl add the bananas and blend until smooth with a hand blender. Then pour sauce over the fruit and enjoy :) 

Dates and Bananas

Ingredients:

25 dates pitted

3 bananas very ripe

Mix in a bowl and dig in :) 

Watermelon Breakfast

Ingredients:

(Serves 2) 

1 whole medium watermelon 

Slice in half and dig in with a large spoon.

(Separate seeds if preferred) 

Tip: only eat watermelon on its own and make sure it's on an empty stomach or you may experience some bloating. Also make sure you haven't eaten a heavy meal the night before for best digestion. This is due to it being a fast digesting food which may run into undigested food and cause a traffic jam. :) 

Cold Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

(Serves 1 or 2)

6 large tomatoes

1/3 cup tomato purée 

2 handfuls fresh basil

Optional:

4 olives

2 slices red pepper

Dice the tomatoes and add to a large bowl or pan, add the tomato purée and basil. Blend using a blender or hand blender. Blend until well mixed with small chunks. Serve with 2 olives each and a slice of pepper. Enjoy :) 

Purple Grape Heaven

Ingredients:

(Serves 1)

500g Huge seeded purple grapes 

1/2 empty melon skin 

Eat out your melon for breakfast and save the skin. At lunch time get your melon skin bowl and grapes. To remove the seeds hold a grape upright then using your thumbs ease the grape in half. Then pick each seed out the add the grape to your melon bowl. Once your melon if full to the brim grap a folk and dig in :)