Warm Salads - An Instant Meal
No matter the season, I love that combination of conventional raw ingredients with some warm roast veggies and a protein source to give the salad the heft of a meal and longer satiety.
Is Juicing Good for Weight Loss?
Go to any trendy hub these days and you will find plenty of cold-pressed juices to tempt you. The question is what role, if any, does a glass of fruit and vegetable juice have in a weight loss or weight maintenance diet?
Walking for Weight Loss and Wellbeing
Walking is the most natural and universal form of exercise. In fact, one could claim that it is not an exercise but a way of being human.
Quinoa Vegetable Biryani
If you are a reader of my blog, you will probably know that I have a strong preference for animal-protein based meals. This one is for my sister, Naomi, and is vegetarian or vegan. The delicious dish can be served as an accompaniment to a meat meal or as a meal on its own. The recipe comes from ‘Good and Simple’ by the Hemsley sisters. They are two of the most creative cooks around, I love their approach to food and their creative ideas. I have made some modifications to suit my particular needs.
My Coffee Ritual
What I wanted to focus on today is the wonderful ritual of coffee making. Like the elaborate tea ceremonies of Japan, my morning coffee involves certain steps that enhance the coffee-drinking experience.
Eating Healthily for One
Psychologically, we become more invested in food preparation when we are catering for others as well as ourselves. Why bother making something elaborate, we think to ourselves, when it is only for me?
Sleeplessness
Consider the following scenarios: You feel tired, you’ve had a busy day. You turn off the light, you lie down and boom, the fatigue is gone, your mind is racing, and you cannot get to sleep. Alternatively, you fall asleep easily at 10pm only to find yourself wide awake at 2am, counting sheep and trying desperately to get back to sleep. You look at the clock, it is 3am, 4am… finally an hour before your alarm goes off, you fall asleep again. These problems afflict may of us as we experience an epidemic of poor sleep.
Salt of the Earth
Many languages have words and expressions that indicate how much we treasure salt. Good people are called “salt of the earth”, a person who works hard is “worth his salt”, even the word salad (salata = salted) comes from “herba salata” indicating that raw vegetables were traditionally served with a salty dressing.
Green Shakshuka
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you probably know that I am passionate about eating highly nutritious, delicious yet easy to prepare food. Pastured eggs rank highly on all three parameters - they are nutritious, delicious and easy to prepare.
Nourishment in Pregnancy
However, it is not only excessive weight gain that should concern us, because eating in pregnancy is no different from eating at other times in our lives, it should always be about good nutrition for you and your baby. If you are planning a pregnancy or find out that you are pregnant already, here are a few guidelines to ensure that by the end of your pregnancy both you and your child are well-nourished and thriving.
Fail Proof Ratatouille
I was first introduced to Ratatouille many years ago, and it has remained a favourite of mine. It is one of those dishes that bring to mind the fields of Provence, sunshine and outdoor dining. It is delicious eaten warm or cold as a side salad.
Masala Chicken
I discovered this simple and delicious recipe many years ago in Claudia Roden’s beautiful Book of Jewish Cooking. Its origins are in the Indian Jewish community of Bene Israel and it has become a go-to comfort food for me. As Claudia says: “there are sweet and delicate flavours in the voluptuous sauce”. It could not be put better. This is my slight adaptation of her recipe.
The Importance of Ritual
For years I baulked at the idea of routine, I wanted to be free, to do as I wish, I was excited by retirement from a very demanding job, and I dreamt of getting up whenever I felt like it and taking it easy. Soon enough I realised that I would achieve very little that way. Whether one is working an 8-5 job, studying or working part-time and managing a home and children, a structured day helps us fit in the aspects of the personal time, professional time and family time.
Paleo Banana Bread
I’ve never been much of a baker. I find it finicky, messy and ultimately fattening… I don’t really want to bake because I can happily do without calorie rich, sugar laden, nutrient poor food. It is that simple. The exception to this rule is banana bread/cake and carrot cake. These bread-cakes give that delicious melt-in-your-mouth yumminess without the grains, gluten and sugar of most baked goods.
Chopped Liver
To benefit from the goodness liver has to offer, we should aim to eat at least 75 gram of liver (and other organ meats) per week. Liver, however, is not everybody’s cup of tea, so to speak, and even the most dedicated omnivores find it difficult to incorporate it in their diet. You may find, however, that combining it with sautéed onion and hardboiled eggs as a pâté works a treat.
Zucchini Frittata
The recipe is gluten free but contains dairy. It is the most delicious, moist frittata I have eaten, and it is very simple. The key to its moisture and delicate texture is using heavy cream and plenty of cheese in the egg mix and baking it in a moderate oven.
Sleep
I used to be a good sleeper. When I say a good sleeper, I mean that sleep came easily to me, and I could stay asleep all night long. That was until I hit menopause. Then things changed. I found that I could not fall asleep easily, and that I also woke more often in the night. Some nights I still struggle to get a good, restorative deep sleep. I have come to realise that worrying about not sleeping is definitely counteractive, so in this article I hope to shed some light on a few important facts.
Intermittent Fasting
There is a lot of talk these days about intermittent fasting, and like most things diet and lifestyle related, definitions and interpretations abound.