Cookbooks, like men, come in and out of your life. Some excite you at first, but leave you totally underwhelmed within minutes. Some, those special few, can quite simply change your life.
The new cookbook by Lee Holmes, Eat Right for Your Shape , is just one such book.
This book takes a fresh look at the ancient Indian healing system of Ayurveda. A holistic approach to feeling well, balanced and living in harmony with yourself and your surroundings. A union of the mind, body, senses and soul to help achieve balance and good health.
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Full fat organic dairy milk. Such a simple thing, yet one I found hard to find during my recent holiday in New York. Just one choice in one market sitting amongst hundreds of varieties of skim, 0% fat, 2% fat, low-fat and long-life.
At first I was a little horrified, then it got me thinking about diets. About how we've been brought up my our parents and what the experts taught us back then, and even today. It got me thinking how no one person is the same, and no one body is the same, which then leads to the inevitable conclusion that no diet or way of eating should be the same for everyone.
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Celeriac. Have you ever seen a more ugly vegetable? By golly it's delicious though! Probably one of the least used and most under-rated root vegetables, which is such a shame as it has some serious health benefits. It’s high in fiber, potassium, magnesium, and vitamin B6, which help our bodies absorb nutrients, expel waste, improve immunity and maintain our blood sugar levels.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
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Yes the lovely orange root vegetable may have oodles more vitamin A, vitamin C and fiber than its white cousin - the regular potato, but did you know that sweet potatoes are outstanding for your digestion?
Their high starch content can be easily broken down which is so soothing for our stomach and intestines - ideal for those of us suffering tummy issues (like the horrible bloating I'm currently enjoying due to my hypothyroidism).
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Say hello to Avril!
Avril lives in New England, USA where she works as an elderly care provider, where she's the mother of two little girls and where she cooks and bakes like crazy for her blog Baking and Creating with Avril .
Avril's blog is filled to the brim with wonderful family friendly recipes made with love, igniting her dream of one day potentially opening up her very own bakery. How exciting Avril. Although the thought of bakers hours leaves me in a cold sweat!
Baking and Creating with Avril also happens to be my Secret Recipe Club blog for the month of August.
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Some ladies buy shoes while on holidays.
Me, I buy vintage crockery (well, I do buy shoes too!).
My obsession makes it a little hard to move my suitcase by the end of each holiday, and in fact, my wheels gave out on this last trip. There is also always that fear hanging over my head that my suitcase will be filled with shards of china when I next open it.
Luckily, these little gems made it all the way home as I love the way this delicious chicken and red lentil soup pops inside the bowl.
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I love a goodie bag. Seriously, who doesn't?
These gorgeous little bowls just happened to be in my goodie bag that I received at the Noel en Juillet Wokshop recently. Technically they're not made for food, but when something new comes into my house, the rules are quite simple:
1. You must be able to hold food.
2. You need to be pretty for photographs.
Voila!
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Say hello to Mellissa!
A 30 something fitness enthusiast, wine lover, marketing manager by day and food blogger by night. In fact, she's the face (and fingers) behind the blog A Fit and Spicy Life, which happens to be my Secret Recipe Club blog for the month of July.
I just love Mellissa's tag line...."a lot of cooking, a little wine and workouts to keep it all inline". What a gorgeous way to live!
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So this is how it goes....you grab the freshest yellow zucchinis (and perhaps a few token green ones - because you can) and you lovingly stir them together with beautiful vegetable stock and the happiest spice of them all. The smile inducing, beautiful colour of sunshine spice...tumeric.
One of nature's super foods due to its anti-inflammatory, pain-killing and liver-detoxing capabilities,
An oldie but a goodie, this soup always puts a smile on my face and utter contentment in my tummy.
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I've got the sniffles, the body aches and the "can't be f''s" at the moment, and all I'm craving is soup. Silky smooth soup that I don't have to chew. Food that is a cinch to make and that actually makes me feel like I'm giving my body a fighting chance!
I'm really not very pleasant when I'm sick.
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The colour pink represents compassion, nurturing and love.
Pink is feminine and romantic, affectionate and intimate, thoughtful and caring. It is intuitive and insightful, showing tenderness and kindness with its empathy and sensitivity.
It's a sign of hope, inspiring warm and comforting feelings, and a sense that everything will be okay.
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ou're gonna love this soup!
Correction. If you love corn, you're gonna love this soup. I promise.
It's fresh and creamy. It pops in your mouth yet still wonderfully soothing. It's a soup that makes you exhale in utter contentment.
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Breakfast. I'm frustrated as hell.
I'm bored out of my brain with toast and lately I just haven't been able to stomach the heavy creaminess of yoghurt and porridge. All I crave is fresh vegetables. Fresh green vegetables to be precise.
I've just recently started struggling with my breakfast - this is something I've never experienced before as it's my all time favourite meal of the day, but trying to come up with new quick, fresh ideas has me completely stumped.
Having made this little soup on the morning of New Years Eve ready to take with me as a starter to our evening feast, I found myself happily slurping it down for breakfast. I couldn't get enough of it. The fresh zing of the lemon, and the cool smoothness of the avocado and cucumber had me sighing in utter contentment.
Who said you couldn't have soup for breakfast?!
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Barley. A fibre superstar, with just one cup providing your body with over half of your daily recommended intake. However for me personally, my interested in barley is because of its high selenium content - an essential trace mineral that is lacking in many of our diets. Not only is selenium needed for antioxidant defense and immune function, it is also needed for your thyroid (and my thyroid needs all the help it can get!)
Selenium has also been shown to stimulate DNA repair in damaged cells.
I've been eating barley for years and was first introduced to it as a thickener in hearty Winter soups made by my mum and it was at her request, that I whipped this batch of soup up. I've always loved barley's soft texture and nutty flavour and would often eat it as a replacement to rice.
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Spring.
I certainly wouldn't class it as my favourite season, but it's still a beauty, don't you think? I love the very beginning of it, when the leaves just start to show themselves and splashes of colour can be seen everywhere you look as the flowers begin to bud. I love that I still need to carry a jacket with me and that I can still rug up under a blanket most evenings.
I also love that Christmas is not too far away!
But probably my most favourite thing about this season is all the yummy Spring vegetables that begin to show themselves. How can you say no to their petite size and beautiful colours?
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Food for Thought: Carrots.
Did you know that the second most popular vegetable (after the potato) can help promote beautiful skin? Being super high in Vitamin A and antioxidants, carrots help prevent premature wrinkling, acne, dry skin, pigmentation, blemishes and uneven skin tones. They can also protect us against macular degeneration of the eyes, some cancers and heart disease.
The Vitamin A will also help your liver flush out toxins from the body - which can only be considered a good thing in my book!
Maybe you're a smarty pants and already knew all that...but I bet you didn't know that the nutrition in carrots are encased in tiny little protein sacs that have to be broken for you to gain these benefits (this could be through cooking, grinding, juicing or plain old simple proper chewing).
I cooked AND pureed mine....
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We're slowly coming to the end of parsnip season here in Australia. Even though it's available all year round, it's at its best from Autumn to Spring (perfect for those of you in the Northern hemisphere!)
It takes only a handful of ingredients to make this wonderful soup, and I guarantee you'll love the aroma coming from the oven as it bakes, the burst of sweet roasted garlic as you puree it all together and then the taste once you dollop your sour cream on top. Oh my.
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Food for Thought: Did you know that the often overlooked root vegetable known as parsnip is actually an excellent source of both soluble and insoluble dietary fibre, helping to do that wonderful job of reducing your blood cholesterol levels?
Not me. I just thought it looked like a white carrot, but only sweeter.
Like carrots, the parsnip contains a good dose of vitamin C (helping the body maintain healthy connective tissue, teeth and gums), it's anti-oxidant property helps protect us from diseases and it is rich in many of the B-complex group of vitamins (such as folic acid and vitamin B6), not to mention vitamin K and E.
And if that wasn't enough for you, it has a healthy level of minerals including iron, calcium, copper, potassium and manganese which all help to control your heart rate and blood pressure by countering the effects of sodium.
All that from a white looking carrot?
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Say hi to Nichole!
Nichole comes all the way from Baltimore and started cooking out of necessity (to stop her eating burnt food). Don't you just love it! She's also the mother of two cats and the brains behind the blog Cookaholic Wife, which just happens to be my Secret Recipe Club partner for the month of July.
The recipe I've chosen from Nichole's HUGE list of recipes is one that is near and dear to my heart. It's a French classic, it's the perfect dish for these cold Winter days we're experiencing here in Melbourne and it's my sort of comfort food at its very best. It also happens to be one of the very first French dishes I tried my hand at.....
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