vegetables Archives - Seren Holistic Lifestyles

Posts Tagged ‘vegetables’

Juicing it up!

February 20, 2014 By Kat

For many months, a whole year actually, I’ve been going round in circles as to whether I should buy a juicer. I’m a loyal Thermomix lover that makes awesome smoothies so I felt like I was cheating on Thermie even looking at a juicer.

Juices vs smoothies I feel shouldn’t be a competition; it’s down to preference or just have both. Each have oodles of nutritional benefits. Smoothies make a filling & wholesome, fibre rich breakfast that generally quicker to make too. Pure vegetable juices are easily digested & a large variety of different vegetables can be mixed together in one hit. No chunky bits either to deal with.

A niggling voice & a gut feeling was telling me the time was right to get myself a juicer. I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I finally took the plunge a week ago & headed to the Good Guys for a look. I’ve done a lot of research on the different brands, trawled the blogs & read the reviews. There are a lot of juicers out there. The main difference I’ve found is the way the juice is extracted. Cold press is best as any heat from rotating blades & motors can reduce the nutrient value of the juice. It’s better to gently squeeze out the juice that vigorously chop & mash.

Here’s what I found. Again I am no expert, just an avid Googler, one must chose the juicer that is right for you. The path of self-discovery is the most rewarding 😉

The number one juicer seems to be the Norwalk. The Gerson Therapy only allows its programs juices (13 a day!) to be made in a Norwalk cold press. This is the shebang mother of all juice machines & rings in at US$2500. They aren’t available in Australia so add shipping & tax/import duty that could be anything up another $1000. Err no, sorry can’t afford that just for every day juice.

The second best one is the Angel juicer. This looks a little more compact & is shipped free in Australia. Again this comes in at nearly $1500. Sadly out of budget.

A similar model to the Angel is the Champion juicer. It looks like the same shape but is plastic instead of stainless steel. It’s a lot cheaper at $549.

I know a few people who have picked up second hand quality juicers from various websites that is always an option to save a few dollars. Breville Juice Fountains are highly regarded. The size put me off though.

After all my research I ended up going for a very entry-level cold press juicer that I found in the Good Guys. I’m glad I went to a shop as the size & weight of juicers varied dramatically. At the end of the day I’m new to all this, have a tiny budget & very little kitchen bench/storage space. I feel I made the right choice for me.

I went for the Aquaport Juice Pro Slow cold press juicer. It was on special for $230. It’s compact, not too heavy, and easy to clean. It does the job I require. I’m very happy with it. It also is great for making almond milk. Once I’ve soaked & grinded in the Thermomix instead of filtering the milk through cheesecloth my juicer does it for me. Separating the milk from almond pulp.

My first juice was a simple greens made with an organic Granny Smith apple, cucumber, spinach, kale & lemon. I chopped the veg up as recommended; it fed through without any drama & the juice tasted really good. I did find it foamed a bit as the juice filled up in the container. A quick stir eliminated most of it. The motor did get warm but not drastically & it didn’t affect the juice that was still cool. (I’d refrigerated my produce first)

I do have to say that I’m now a convert & haven’t had a smoothie since getting the juicer, sorry Thermie! Pure juice is so tasty. Even more it’s so energising. Apart from the green apple I haven’t juiced any other fruits yet as I’m loving the green vegetables. Green juice gives you energy. It’s true! You have to be careful with other fruits, as without the fibre it’s pure sugar, natural for sure but still it’s good to note if you worry about that sort of thing.

Fresh is best. Gerson recommends all juice be drunk no more than 20 minutes after pressing as the nutrient value diminishes. Some people freeze juice or keep it till later in the day & report they still taste good. I made double quantity juice the other day. I put the extra juice in an airtight mason jar in the fridge. However it was so good it couldn’t leave it sitting in the fridge & guzzled the second serve. A healthful craving for sure.

What’s your favourite pure juice recipe? Please share in the comments below.

Love K xx

Click on image to enlarge
©Seren Holistic Lifestyles Blog 2014
(please share the love with full credit thanks)

Organic Vegetarian Recipe

December 13, 2013 By Kat

Leading on from yesterday’s post I’m going to show you how easy it is to make a nutritious, vegetarian & filling meal from the Woolworths Organic brand range. The rest of the ingredients I got from my herb garden & an egg from my chooks. For the breadcrumbs use any gluten free shop bought bread (Organic is ideal) & whiz a couple of slices up in the food processor.

This recipe I found & have adapted from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition Gluten Free Holiday Recipe Guide. It is a free download but can I find the link to it now, no. Here’s IIN main website as a reference.

Spaghetti & Vegetarian Lentil Meat Balls

Ingredients (Serves 4)

1 cup Organic dry lentils – soaked for 8 hours
2 cups vegetable broth (or water) I use homemade Thermomix stock
1 Organic free range egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp fresh oregano or other mixed herbs
1/2 cup gluten-free bread crumbs
1 pkg Organic Spaghetti (or gluten free/raw zucchini pasta if you prefer)
1 jar Organic pasta sauce
Shredded parmesan cheese to top (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180° C.

2. Bring the vegetable broth and lentils to a boil and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes, or until lentils are tender.

3. Combine egg, salt, pepper, garlic and oregano in a food processor. When the lentils are done, add those as well. Pulse until blended well. Fold in the bread crumbs. If the mixture is too dry, add another egg. If it’s too wet, add more bread crumbs (you want these a little more on the wet side).

4. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

5. Roll the mixture (with wet hands or use food prep gloves) into1-inch balls. Place on sheet.

6. Bake the lentil “meat” balls for 20 minutes or until they start to get golden brown.

7. While the lentil balls are baking, cook your pasta according to the directions on the pack.

8. Heat the pasta sauce.

9. Drain pasta and divide into bowls. Top with a few lentil “meat” balls, some pasta sauce, and Parmesan cheese.

Click on image to enlarge
©Seren Holistic Lifestyles Blog 2013
(please share the love with full credit thanks)

Resource:
Institute of Integrative Nutrition Gluten Free Holiday Recipe Guide, 2013, Page 18.
http://www.integrativenutrition.com/connect/recipes

Home Grown Produce

August 28, 2013 By Kat

Living off the land and being self-sufficient is a dream for many. I remember watching the 70’s British sitcom ‘The Good Life’ in which the main characters ditch their day jobs to turn their suburban house into a hobby farm. More recently TV show’s such as River Cottage are doing what the fictional Tom & Barbara did for real. It is achievable and I’m all over the idea.

My partner, who is a horticulturist by trade, set up a vegetable garden a few years ago in our back yard. We are super blessed to live on a property so space & equipment were not a challenge. Gardening is his yoga. He’s a total earth boy spending hours with his hands in the dirt. All the planting is done in conjunction with the moon cycles for optimum production and universal balance.

I introduced you to ‘our girls’ the chooks a few months back in this post. The feather kid family has now expanded to turkeys in preparation for Christmas. (Despite being a vego I’m okay with this as our meat birds are living a happy, free range life & gratitude will be given highly for their sacrifice) The egg production has slowed down for winter & I’m finding it hard to fill the demand. It’s a very rewarding to be able to offer ethically and organically produced eggs from happy chickens.

The veggie garden has grown and expanded too, so much we now have surplus supply. In the past we gave most of it away that we couldn’t use ourselves. After watching an episode of River Cottage Australia my partner was inspired by a local community event called a ‘Food Swap.’ The Eastern states have got this down. You rock up with your excess produce & put it on one of the swap tables. Then you go off and pick out what you need from what others have brought. It all seemed to run smoothly and the exchanges worked out fairly. Sadly this is yet to take off properly in WA. Watch this space!

To fill the gap my partner came up with this idea ‘take what you want, pay what you want.’ He kitted out the back of his ute to resemble a vegetable market stall, complete with a home made shelf. Then each Friday he takes his ‘stall’ to his workplace to offer his suburban colleagues a chance to purchase fresh, organic veg at a price they can afford. After posting this picture on Facebook a few of our neighbours dropped by in the evening ‘to shop’ too.

I’m getting the most delight in this by watching how a passionate past time may well turn into something of a grander scale.

With the possible exception of the equator, everything begins somewhere. C. S. Lewis

Love Seren xx

Oracle Card from True Shining Self

May 29, 2013 By Kat

Leading up to last weekends Super Full moon and the birth of a new family of eclipses the energy was highly charged. Those sensitive to planetary activity were having quite the roller coaster ride. Even if you didn’t know you are sensitive you probably felt something a little different going on.

For me I was buzzing with ideas and actioning them on a creative level. On the down side I was very tired and my whole body hurt. Think flu symptoms without the flu. I dragged myself through two challenging Bikram yoga classes where I struggled and strained in an attempt to release what ever was in there causing these physical manifestations. Friday the 24^th May rolled round & I was done. I just wanted to curl up on a cosy bed to relax and absorb the power that the universe was sending me.

Recently I found a wonderful blog & FB page from an intuitive healer & passionate Angelic channel Amy. True Shining Self is a realm of love & passionate oozing with authenticity. On Amy’s FB page on Friday she posted this status:

*Oracle Card* – especially for you

Happy Friday everyone! I’m free for the next 15 mins. Say ‘YES’ in the comments below if you would like me to pull an oracle card for you.
(In case you’re not familiar with Oracle Cards, they act as messengers – they relay what you need to know about a situation or give guidance in moving forward)

I was all over this one. I love a good scry with the cards. I have a few boxes myself but it’s always nice for someone else to draw one for you. The cards Amy used are Doreen Virtue’s Magical Messages from the Fairies oracle cards.

Here is what I got:

Your card is ‘Dietary Change’ – your metabolism is extremely sensitive, your guides have been giving you messages and this card is a validation that you have been hearing them correctly. As you improve your diet, so do you heal other areas of your life.

Cards are very subjective & if you don’t believe in their power that is just fine. I do & this one hit the spot. I have been a bit slack the past three weeks when I should be upping my game and keeping on top of my diet. With the planetary activity being high and I was being called to action I should have been fuelling myself better.

My metabolism has been crazy busy of late. Everything I’ve eaten has been burnt up in a flash. (Lucky me but not when you need some heaviness to keep your feet on the ground) I needed some good plant based nutrition and lots of warming grounding foods these past few weeks. I did the latter no problem but the former I had slacked off. Since the weather has turned chilly I’ve not been craving my green smoothies in the morning. Instead I had toasted homemade banana bread. What I should have done was make hot, thick, wholesome soup. But I didn’t. My body really took a hammering without it’s hit of liquid veg. I haven’t been taking my whole food supplements either. A whole week has passed since I finished a bottle & just hadn’t remembered to pull out & start a new one.

Hence the flagging energy I felt after bursts of creativity. I wasn’t nourishing myself enough to keep going. My guides sure have been telling me to get my act together. I’ve even passed messages onto others about food this cycle. Yet I cruised along in a rut not addressing the issue I needed too. Time to get my veg on! Lot’s of warming soups, curries, brown rice risotto & quinoa bakes. I have pumpkins & sweet potato a plenty in my garden all ready for a big coconut oil roast up.

Side note: I just took a break from writing to make a green smoothie & boy does it taste good. When you follow your Soul’s advise nothing but good comes from it!

Thank you Amy for a giving me the card I needed to take action on. It’s wonderful to be in tune with you guides but if you don’t act on their advice immediately you end up breaking down which is just what you wanted to avoid by asking for guidance in the first place.

Love Seren xx

Image Credit: http://newfinmysoup.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/autumn-vegetable-soup.html

1 2 Next