Blue Moon Ceremony, Feast and Nut Butter

Today has been a very busy day! I have not stopped much, but have gotten lots done and eaten more than my fill! I am absolutely stuffed with foods... let me tell you how it went in the kitchen!

I have been up since early this morning, because a certain child decided to get up around 6am, so since I was awake, it was the perfect time to just jump in and get things done for the day. 

We don't eat meat very often, actually we have spent more than a few years as very strict vegans, however, during the last couple of years have introduced a very limited amount of lamb, duck, goose and fish into our diets. Especially if they are our own.

Everyone had decided lamb was in order for today, so I had a leg of lamb ready to go into the oven this morning. I didn't do anything special with it - just lots of baby shallots, garlic, salt, pepper and dried sage from my herb garden.

This was slow cooked all morning while I prepared mixed root vegetables, fragrant rice with spices, fresh grated salad of beetroot, apple, carrot, cucumber, red onion with a balsamic vinegar, honey mustard dressing. 

I served our dinner with herbed bread and gravy made from the lamb. It was lovely! Then for our dessert we had a mini buffet of salted nuts, mango slices, date squares, flapjacks and dandelion coffee - which we took outside because the day was so nice. 

Throughout all of this cooking and eating, I found the time (finally!) to open my new toy - a Kenwood Chef mixer, blender, food processor. I had been waiting all week to use it because it was bought for primarily one thing.

The very last item (I think?) on our list of shop bought factory made foods that has to go is nut butter. However, we love this stuff and have been eating it for many years. My favourite would be hazelnut butter while the kids love tahini and sunflower seed butter. 

With this type of food on the way out, I needed to be able to make my own. After much research we decided on the Kenwood - hoping it would be able to grind the nuts enough to make a paste or a butter. I was willing to go with it, even if it was a bit rough.

Tonight, I roasted 2 cups of almonds on 180 degrees C for about 10 minutes or so. Then poured one cup at a time into the blender. Even though the machine comes with a food processor, it is completely plastic which is never a good idea around foods. 

Almonds in the blender 

As an aside, these food processors contain BPA plastic, which are some of the worst offenders when it comes to leaching chemicals into the food. Oily foods such as nuts, are not a good idea in plastic, nor is it wise to use with heated foods. 

I did look for a stainless steel food processor, however they were only available in a high end commercial type (it was lovely!) but way too much and too big for our needs at the moment. 

After reading so many comments from people who make their own nut butters using various types of machines, I knew to keep running the blender until the nuts started to clump together from the nut oils in the almonds. 

After about 6-8 minutes, it did just as it should and formed a nice nut butter. The smell is heavenly, everyone had a little taste - it was given a pass and we are now in business where nut butters are concerned. 

Voila Almond butter! 

I am quite excited by this machine and can't wait to see if it can be as useful as it appears. Perhaps, my entire kitchen experience is about to change! LOL

Oh, and we had a very nice Blue Moon ceremony outside - just as we were about to close our circle, a great flock of young crows (ravens?) flew overhead, it was all we could hear for a few minutes until they had passed over. 

I had chills down my back, it was beautiful,

Enjoy your Blue Moon!

April

Blue Moon Ceremony - me and my children 

Getting Ready for a Feast!

It feels as if I have hardly been in the kitchen at all - yet I have been cooking, baking and making foods (mostly treats) since early this morning. I am trying to fit in something special for everyone, and still have a list to work from! LOL

Today I made more date squares, because they were such a hit and are so tasty with a cup of dandelion or barley coffee. This time around I made them a little differently but putting more spices into both the date mixture as well as with the crust. 

I added into the chopped dates a teaspoon of cinnamon, lemon juice, water and some date syrup - this all cooked up into a paste and was then sandwiched between each layer of the oat butter crust. I also added some allspice into the crust mixture to give it more of a flavour.

It smells lovely with that warm, cozy scent only found from toasted oats! I can't wait to try them tomorrow.

Then I made some Hazelnut honey halva (due to popular demand), this was one of the treats we used to buy and I have not ever attempted to make it myself before now. I found a recipe from an old Middle Eastern book and mostly followed that.

It can be a bit tricky with temperatures and getting the mixtures right - once it is all into the pan to set, it then needs to cool and crystalize for 36 hours. Right now we are at this stage, and I will let you know how this one turns out. 

My real adventure today was toasting the hazelnuts. Of course, the halva recipe mentioned hot roasted nuts as being best, but with the skins off. Apparently the best way to remove skins from hazelnuts is to gently roast them for about 10 minutes then to rub off the skins in a coarse kitchen towel. 

Hazelnuts - removing the skins

It worked! The skins came off the nuts, for the most part and I was able to crush them a little before adding to the halva mixture. Fingers are crossed on this one...

Next I was still feeling adventurous, so I decided to make some flapjacks mainly for the children, but we love them as well. I like a recipe I can add or change ingredients for, and this one is ideal. Today I put seeds (sesame, sunflower) walnuts, sultanas, chopped apricots and coconut into the oat mixture and it turned out ok.

I was aiming for more of a chewy flapjack, however it was a bit crumbly and could have been left in the oven for another few minutes. They are quite tasty though, with the crumbly bit not too bad and no one really even noticed but me!

Near the end of the day, I decided to make something savory (mostly for myself) to offset all of these sweet treats. Of course, one of my favourite snacks is a Rosemary goat's cheese muffin, so now we have a batch of these as well. 

Flapjacks, date squares, goat's cheese muffins - looking forward to the party! 

All in all, today was a busy day gearing up for our feast, tomorrow will bring even more tasty bites for our Blue Moon party, now I have to decide which ones.....

Have a happy Blue Moon!

April

Looks blue to me! 

A Lot Has Changed...

After this last Master Cleanse, I am still taking stock of how I feel physically while I examine each of the differences in my body, mind and life. Some changes are easily noticeable, while others are less obvious, and have sort of snuck up on me during the time I have been clearing out my diet even further.

One of the most interesting things to mention at the beginning is my diet is organic, clean, with many years as either vegan or vegetarian and even now - the majority of the foods I do eat are plant based.

So, this is what I came up with....

As I was pondering the changes that are taking place for us because we have decided to further remove any and all remaining processed items from our diets, I found they could be divided into two distinct categories. 

One main area of change was primarily physical with several places I have noticed over these past few weeks where I actually 'feel' different

• more energy - overall I feel brighter and have more energy to get through each day, I am not any busier either, even with some extra cooking, it has been quite enjoyable to be honest

• eating less - perhaps this is a result of better food, or because homemade food is richer, but I find myself full sooner, needing less to eat and generally not overeating 

• clearer, smoother, softer skin - my skin has changed quite a bit over the years, deep detoxing has also improved it considerably, but now, it is also softer as well as smooth, as if it is well hydrated

• better digestion - my digestion should be pretty good after all these years of eating well, however I do notice an improvement and my intuition tells me that my absorption is better

• senses - I have mentioned this a few times these past few days, and I can't say it enough, each of my senses (including my eyes) are stronger, sharper, better 

The other areas of significant change have been found on a day to day basis, sometimes I hardly notice it, I just seem to have broadened my interests and 'feel' differently about the same situations which would have bothered me even a few weeks ago. 

• creativity increased - in general I am finding ways to be more creative, with my children, in my writing, around the house and in the garden

• saving money - I definitely have noticed a reduction in the overall spending on food since we started making all of our own items, we are shopping far less

• food security - as a Clinical Nutritionist, I have a need to know exactly what is in the food and what my children are eating, and now I know, because I make it ALL myself 

• more organized - with the use of additional glass jars, using up storage space and generally moving things around, this has prompted me to be far more organized in the kitchen as well as to know exactly what is on hand when it comes to food

• energy is clearer in mind and body - looking back over these past 2 months or so, even though I only removed a few items from our diets, I am getting the desired results within my energy field, it looks and feels brighter

These are only some of the places and ways I have found to have changed during these last few weeks since embarking on really making every possible effort to remove the remaining processed or factory made foods from our immediate food chain.

I think it is quite impressive! All along I would have felt I was doing a superior job feeding myself and my family - yet, there are always ways to improve and of course the benefits have been tremendous. 

These are early days yet, so who knows how I will feel in the coming months as time moves on...it will only get better!

Have a healthy day,

April

One of my favourite meals - turmeric rice with vegetables

Barley Coffee

One of the processed foods on my list to go and hopefully be replaced with a homemade version, was the chicory coffee we used to drink. It was an instant, roasted and most likely freeze dried vegetable coffee, which had a great taste, but obviously was highly processed to get it at the 'stir in your cup' stage.

Our mainstay morning drink is dandelion coffee, however, at times this can be hard to get and we like to stretch out the supply we have to make it last longer. The dandelion coffee is not ground or processed other than being roasted, thus it is lower on our list at the moment! 

Because we have been missing the chicory coffee and needing something to add in with dandelion, today I decided to try my hand at making some roasted coffee using barley. I have been mulling this over in my mind for a few weeks now, and this grain seems to be easiest to work with.

I found very little mention of what to do with it, while the information I did find varied quite a bit. So, once again, it is hit and miss - try something and see how it works out. To be honest, I thought it would be far more complicated then it turned out to be, or maybe I have got it all wrong! LOL

To roast the barley, I poured 2 cups of dry barley grain onto a flat pan and placed this into a hot oven, of about 220º for nearly 45 minutes. My plan was to roast it for at least the full 45 minutes, but I felt that it was getting too dark and turned off the heat around the 40 minute mark.

Barley grain ready for the oven

Then, I let the grain sit and cool down completely as the oven cooled. Once it was cool to the touch, I used my immersion blender and ground it up in the same way I do the dandelion coffee. I noticed right away, once it was ground - it smelled very rich and full, reminding me of the chicory.

Roasted barley grain

Now, that I seemed to have some promising results, I couldn't wait to try it out. When I was making our dandelion coffee, I added in 2 heaping tablespoons of the roasted barley and made our coffee as usual. 

It tasted great - there were some small bits of coffee floating around, and the plunger was a little harder to push down. These things we can work on and perhaps we can make coffee some other way to avoid this. Otherwise...

Barley coffee ground in jar ready to use

As I write this, I can only think one thing - it was that easy to make! OMG! Here I was thinking making a grain coffee was some magical process, and it was nothing of the sort. Right now we have a full jar of the barley coffee and I plan to make more each week to enjoy with our dandelion drink.

Great stuff!

Have a healthy day,

April

Dandelion and barley coffee with goat's milk - Yumm!!

Warm bread, Pumpkin soup and Date squares...

Today we are slowly getting back to some soft foods after fasting for 10 days during our Master Cleanse - this is always a lovely day for me because right now my senses are still really sharp from the all the detoxing.

I can smell, taste and feel each food more deeply, all the subtle notes and flavours roll around with each bite - it is a great feeling to enjoy good homemade food knowing everything I am eating is good for me and nourishing.

Late last night I had dates on my mind so much, I decided to finally listen to them calling - I ended up making some great smelling date squares, which of course I couldn't eat until just now, I had a small bite of one. It is divine. There is something decadent about dates, combine them with the subtle tastes of toasted oats, butter and spices and this is close to heaven for me! 

Date squares piled on a plate - calling my name! 

I actually hadn't made them in quite a while, but now have my orders to make them far more often. Perhaps I will make another batch this week with a little twist of orange flavours for something different.

Early this morning I also made my bread, this is something I do most days, I even make honey oat spelt bread fairly regularly, however, once again tonight as everyone had a slice of the bread, it was as if it tasted so wonderful. Even better than usual.

It has not got me wondering if perhaps our taste buds have been extra cleaned out or something from this last 10 days, more so than usual for us after a detox. Something is different and this food tastes great! Just as I wrote this I realized the one thing now different! LOL

The last few vestiges of processed foods such as mustard, mayonnaise, jams etc. which were getting into our diets have been gone for some weeks now. Might this be making such a dramatic difference to our palates? Possibly.

For our soft, easily digested dinner tonight, I had soaked azduki beans, added lots of vegetables but mostly pumpkin, spiced it a little as this gently cooked - and then we all really enjoyed a nourishing bowl of pumpkin soup. 

All the food today tasted fabulous - can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Have a healthy day,

April

Pumpkin and azduki bean soup - lovely flavours and tastes

Food Revolution

**This is an article I wrote some time ago to get people to come around to the thinking - they can do something positive, even wonderful for themselves, their families and the planet, right from home. All change in this world starts with us, all it takes is just one person to stand up and say 'enough' and then act on it.

If you can't, who can?

Food Revolution

For those of us who are watching and supporting the many revolutions that are taking place around the planet but are unable to physically be there- there is so much else that can be done. And perhaps even more important work that must be done to start to break down these monopolies who control our money, economies, food, water, media, and ultimately our minds.

We see it often during some of these protests, ‘access to better health care’ written on placards and it has left me feeling perplexed. There are some basic tennents that every human living on this planet needs to get back to- and the fundamental one would be food. How to feed ourselves so that the body and mind is well nourished and in a healthy state has been eroded in less then several generations. We have been duped into thinking that we actually ‘need’ health care- what we need is self care in the form of fresh whole food and clean water.

Control of the people doesn’t stop with these Big Food, Big Agri, Big Seed and Big Market corporations either! Perhaps it only begins there, because control of the people spills over into Big Pharma, Big Gov and Big Bank. So, each of these mega corporations has a stake in how well you feed yourself and the general health of your body. This is a fact because ‘they’ have an insatiable desire to control and you cannot be controlled if and when you are eating, drinking and living in a state of natural health.

In a short period of time, you will rebuild your mind (and body) and start to think for yourself. It is so simple- all you need is real food, that is clean, fresh and simply prepared.

All this food is out there- there is NO food crisis in terms of supply, there is only a crisis in methods of marketing mass hysteria to get you to believe that the crap on the shelves in the Big Supermarket has any thing to do with food. If you walk into any modern shop you will see that only about 5-10% of the available food is fresh, unadulterated, and next to nothing is unpackaged!

In order to get your body on the road to a better way of being, you must change the food that you are eating and the water you are drinking. And for some that will mean a fundamental shift in thinking and perhaps a move out to the country where you can access well or spring water and grow a garden.

You best defence against the systems that need to control you and for you to cooperate with them, is your health- clean healthy body and clear mind. We are conformists as long as we eat what is put before us and spend our days in a spaced out haze because this food clogs up our internal processes and keeps us down.

Feeding yourself packaged, drugged up and chemical laced ‘food’ has your body tissues toxic and your mind unable to think clearly. Eating this way then gives rise to fear, depression, irritable bowel type issues, and a down regulated immune response (or call it passivity) which proceeds on to disease and dysfunction. Of course, this then requires treatment in the form of more packages of drugs and chemicals and more fear!

Can’t you see the pattern here? Eat their food, drink their water, spend your life wandering through life and not thinking beyond what the box tells you, become unwell and end your days eating tablets that only add to the misery. Is this what we have come to? Or is this what has been made of us through the extensive use of mind control, mass marketing, economic debt and poor food/water?

Today you can ask, So where to start? If you want to join a revolution, start here- with you and your family. Pick the three most toxic items in your diet (life?) and remove them. It is that simple. For some it will be sugar, caffeine, alcohol- toxins which slow down the liver and wreak havoc with our immune function. For others it will be a food that you eat far too much of- packaged cereal, take aways, chocolate.

I know that some may be thinking- well how do I live without this or that? It can’t be all that bad- no? We have been so manipulated into thinking that just because something is on the shelf in a supermarket 365 days a year that it should be consumed as such. Never before have we had access to sugar, caffeine, alcohol, packaged foods, chocolate, boxes of processed stuff- all the time.

Your body is designed to eat fresh, whole veggies, fruits, some grains, some fish, little meat and clean water. Anything else is a stress on the digestion and clogs up the nutrient pathways. And we haven’t even gotten to detoxification and the function of the rest of the body!

Choose 3 ways that you can change and start to implement them today- you will feel better tomorrow and every day that follows as you wean yourself off of an entire system that has been cleverly designed to manage the people. Refuse to be controlled, don’t conform, and do not under any circumstances eat their food or drink their water.

Join the Revolution- we shall fight, we will win!

Have a healthy day,

April

Banana Chutney

I know, this sounds different and it is something I would probably not have put together myself - however I came across a mention of banana chutney as being really nice with left overs from a big meal. Such as often happens when we have a feast!

Usually during any feast I am cooking up a storm and have found myself standing in the kitchen in my pajamas late in the afternoon having virtually not left the kitchen since my eyes opened in the morning - spending my day cooking.

The is serious stuff here for us and I wanted to try out some new tastes, textures and combinations of foods over this next little while. So, when I got to reading up on what to do with extra dates, I found a mention of this banana chutney which of course includes dates and a few other things.

Tonight, I decided to dive into making some and perhaps late next week we'll see how it tastes (it should be left to sit for about 10 days or so). It certainly smells lovely and even looks nice in a chutney sort of way.

Fruit and vegetables for Banana Chutney

For the chutney I mashed bananas, chopped apples, dried dates and apricots, sliced onions and diced garlic - this all went into apple cider vinegar to bubble away over half an hour or so. In the meantime part way through the cooking I added in some date syrup, water whenever it looked too thick, and spices (allspice, turmeric, ginger, salt, pepper, cumin).

Banana Chutney steaming away as it slowly cooks 

Once this was placed into jars and processed in the boiling water bath it turned out well and the jars sealed up. I am finding the larger jars take longer to seal and I really do prefer the screw top Kilner jars as opposed to the flip top lids. However, I will use anything that comes into the house at this point!

Apparently banana chutney is very nice served with cheese and crackers, leftover meat such as duck or lamb, salad and stirred into yogurt. When we have a feast day there is always lots of food left for the next meal, a nice chutney (or a couple of them) will add some interesting flavours to these meals and I can't wait to try them.

Well that's my story today - day 9 of my August cleanse, I was itching to cook something interesting and found it. Perhaps I will do some further searches to see what else I can find...

Have a healthy day!

April

Big jar of Banana Chutney

No Excuses....

It seems that a lot of people have some excuse or another for not cooking, eating well and generally taking better care of their bodies and health. Of course ultimately, a price will be paid for living this way as your body can only take so much abuse.

I come across this time and again - reasons why a person can't find the time to cook or eat properly, look after themselves, and carry out the very basics of self-care. What is worse, is these same standards will be passed onto the next generation.

For the most part, I am as busy as the next person, and some might go so far as to say, I am a bit busier. We homeschool our children, I write and care for several animals, tend a large enough garden and cook all of our food from scratch. So I know it does take some effort to get going at least initially. 

If you want to get started yourself around your home with doing more for your family, begin in the kitchen with some very basic guidelines. 

1. Get Organised

This is paramount to eating healthy, feeling better about life and actually seeing results from your efforts. I have found the best way to be organized in the kitchen is to have nearly everything in glass jars, ceramic and wooden bins or paper cartons and bags.

Not only are the natural materials a much better vibration, there is no chemical leaching from plastic into the foods stored inside. With the glass jars, I can visually see how much of an item I have on hand and can find things at a glance in the cupboards.

2. Be Prepared

I have gotten used to thinking a little bit ahead when it comes to meals. Basically we know we will want to eat at some point tomorrow (or if fasting this might be a few days) so, beans or lentils could be soaking, vegetables could be bought and on hand. A favourite rice could be picked out and ready to cook. 

Or as I am doing here, jams, sauces, preserves might be made in batches and stored for use when needed. The cupboards could be kept well stocked with something for every occasion. Then there is no last minute rush or panic wondering what to eat. Food is on hand, simply prepare and serve.

3. Buy in Bulk

These days for anyone feeding a family or living as a group of flatmates, purchasing your food in larger quantities is a must. Not only is this an economical way to obtain your staples, from an energy standpoint this is far better. 

When you buy a large bag of lentils for example (25 kg), they often come in paper and no one has picked through them and bagged up little plastic bags of 250 gram each. Less handling overall means less energy to contend with at your table. 

Unmolested food.

4. Get Interested

If you like to eat, you might as well get your head around loving to cook. If you love to cook, start thinking seriously about the quality of that food and ways to improve it. Experiment, play in the kitchen, try out new things, take a cookery class - but do something to motivate yourself where eating, food and your health is concerned.

For me, I have been running a kitchen since I was 12 years old, so to not be cooking would be very strange. However, I didn't always love the cooking, that came about gradually as I learned more about how to feed myself properly and got more creative with my meals. Also having children helped because I was so determined to feed them and teach them to look at food as medicine as well as nourishment. 

5. Grow a Garden

One of the best ways to learn and understand more about the food we eat is to plant some seeds in a garden and watch them grow. All of life springs up from the earth in this way, it is the basis for understanding our essence and who we are. Through this garden you will connect to the seasons, cycles, ritual, ceremony, patterns and all of humanities ancient roots, lost to so many of us. 

Even if your garden consists of a few herbs and some peas, there is no greater sense of accomplishment  when you see these items on your plate having cared for them for a season. Your energy will have gone into each plant, combined with the earth's, added to your meal, thus completing the circle.

~~~

The reconnection to the earth and her pulse is ultimately what this modern day journey is all about. 

Have a healthy day,

April

One of my favourite meals - very simple basmati rice, brown lentils in cumin, stir-fry of leek, onion, garlic and carrot

Just Go Nuts!

Today I am making some things for our party next week - I like to be a little organized, but it is also so much fun to be busy in the kitchen cooking, creating the foods we love. Even though I am fasting for my Master Cleanse and I can't taste these treats, my sense of smell is very keen, so I have a very good idea when they turn out well.

I decided to go through my list of requests for our feast and see which items I could make this week and store, as well, many things taste a little better after a few days or need the time to 'mature'. Homemade foods also taste a little better then shop bought mostly because they are made using fresher ingredients.

Starting with cashews I thought to try two different ways to make them. The first one is to soak the cashews over a day in a light brine solution of sea salt and water, then at the end of the day to roast them in a hot oven for about 20 minutes, adding more salt if needed and cooling. So far, this batch is still soaking, so I will let you know how they turn out tomorrow.

Cashews soaking in a light brine coating

With some other cashew pieces I wanted to just throw them into the oven with a tiny bit of oil (I used sunflower oil) and sea salt and see how they turn out. I have done this many times before to good results, however, we would still go out and buy ready salted cashews! I know, doesn't make any sense at all.

Oil, sea salt, brush for coating the cashews

Next,  I used a Christmas recipe for honey cinnamon roasted almonds, I have been making these for a few years now and they always taste lovely. For the almonds, I roast them first in the oven, while I make a syrup from water, honey, oil, cinnamon, sea salt and a pinch of pepper.

Once these are out of the oven I simply coat the hot almonds with the hot syrup, stir and turn a few times and then allow to cool on a piece of parchment paper. Often they stick together, but that is usually no problem as they are gobbled up so quickly!

Honey cinnamon roasted almonds cooling on parchment 

For a feast, I like to have snacks, treats and things in the house ready for any impromptu gourmet needs and roasted nuts are so easily made at home in a few minutes. One thing that I will note - the smell is delightful as they come out of the oven, nothing like anything from a package - it is deep, rich and full as if the nut itself is bursting open. 

Homemade food just doesn't compare to anything else! 

Have a healthy day,

April

Lightly salted roasted cashews

In A Pickle

Yesterday I was back to making my final batch of pickles using up cucumbers I had on hand and to get some more experience working with vinegars and another method of canning food. The funny thing is that once again I was really hesitant and reluctant to make them, however once I got started it was a whole other story!

I really liked making pickles, perhaps more than making jams, chutneys and sauces. Maybe it is just me, I actually like savory foods far more then sweet ones, however there may be other elements of the process at work here too.

Making pickles is far more involved (at least it is for me so far) then making jams etc. Part of that may be because I have not made them before, the other part is the creativity. I enjoy using my brain and thinking about flavours, colours and how to influence the final results.

As usual I did lots of research before I started, found some general guidelines and then adapted, tweaked and did my own thing. To start with, cucumbers need to be soaked in ice water with sea salt to keep them crisp. Preferably this should be for 4 to 8 hours or overnight.

Cucumbers on ice in salted water

While the cucumbers soaked in the briny solution, I prepared some pickling spice - there are many variations, but I decided to use; cinnamon, mustard seed, bay leaf, dill seed, cloves, ginger, peppercorns, juniper berry and cardamon. Mostly because these were on hand.

I placed the spices into a small bag and tied it, then put this bag in with the water, salt and vinegar solution which was gently simmered for 15 minutes. As soon as the jars were sterilized and ready to go, I placed the sliced cucumbers inside, with dill and garlic then filled each jar with the vinegar brine. 

Cucumber Spears in jar

The last bunch of cucumbers I decided to make into a sweeter variation of pickle, so I added some honey, lemon and water to the vinegar solution along with dried dill herb. After thinly slicing these (with some shallots) and cooking for a few minutes in the solution, I placed them into a jar and poured the rest of the hot honey vinegar into it. 

Then processed each jar in a boiling water bath according to the recommended guidelines. Each jar sealed right up (I love when that happens) and now that job is behind me.

In the end, I made two types of pickles - 2 jars of garlic/dill  and 1 jar of bread and butter pickles. Each   smelled very different, but looked delicious! These are 1 litre jars, so we now have plenty on hand for the coming feasts and celebrations. 

And today I am looking around me wishing I had more cucumbers to make into pickles! The house always smells and feels warm, fuzzy and full of love when I am cooking. It's a great sense of accomplishment to see the cupboards full of homemade goodies as well.

Now, I have a feast to plan for next week - and everyone wants something different, so this will be fun!

Have a healthy day,

April

Finished jars of pickles.... cooling down

Here's what I am 'eating' right now during my cleanse...

A few of you have been asking, exactly what am I eating or drinking during a Master Cleanse - what gets taken in and how much. Well, today I thought that I would post this for you, here is my recipe and an explanation of why it is different. 

Today and for 9 days during a Master Cleanse, I drink a tea mixture with lemon juice, maple syrup and a tiny bit of black pepper. I mention drinking it only 9 days because the first full 24 hours I only take in water or straight herbal tea.

Starting with day 2 - I make litres of water, herbal tea, juice of 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and a pinch of ground black pepper. Throughout the day I might drink over 2 litres of this but not usually much more than that. 

April's Master Cleanse ingredients

I also drink water with this and late at night some herbal tea, lots of liquid coming in but not overdoing it either. I also sip this during the day, I don't drink large amounts in one go, unless I am outside in the sun and working etc.

These particular ingredients I have found over the years since I have been regularly detoxing, are important for a couple of reasons. First, the water must be natural well or spring water, not stored in plastic bottles or treated in any way. You are gently flushing your tissues to remove toxins, this is not the time to introduce more of them.

Secondly, lemon is a natural cleaner, it is alkaline once in the body and has a host of positive benefits on internal organs. Lemon promotes and enhances;

• immune system health
• cleaning of internal gut tissue
• stimulates the liver 
• aids digestion
• contains Vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and phosphorus 
• aid weight loss

And much more. I use organic lemons to remove toxic debris, keep my tea/juice as clean as possible and not slow down my detox in any way. 

The single biggest difference in my methods of detoxing and what I recommend for people is to use herbs in the recipe. Herbal teas (which can be a few of many that are gentle) are a natural way to balance, regulate and improve body function while you do your cleanse.

I have always used herbs and it was a natural follow on for me to include them in my Master Cleanse formula. Of course, I also grow, harvest and make many of my own herbs for the teas - so I know exactly how they are handled and of course they are pesticide free. 

Lastly, I include a small pinch of black pepper as opposed to the cayenne in the traditional recipe mainly because I know the detrimental effects of Night Shades on health and spirit, but also because I do not particularly feel that cayenne pepper is particularly healing. Many people have problems with it.

Black pepper has several beneficial properties such as working as a mild diuretic, encourages the body to sweat (helps eliminate toxins), digestive aid, breaks up congestion and cleans the taste buds in the mouth. I like it because it has a nice energy and use an organic whole peppercorn which we grind. 

During a Master Cleanse such as I am doing right now, this is what I drink every day until I am finished. Each day that I do this I feel more and more like myself, I love my fasting days nearly as much as my food days and my life has dramatically changed for the better as a direct result of following The Pagan Diet - Food, Fast & Feast.

Remove the toxins, free yourself

April

Sunlight shining through the Master Cleanse juice - Juice Angel!! 

Food Safety....Means Living Food

Issues of safety have been coming to mind over these past few weeks while I have been filling my cupboards with all sorts of jams, sauces, preserves, pickles and so forth. Of course, when it comes to food hygiene I am from a food background and there are stories I can tell!! LOL

So, down to the basics - what do I really think and believe about food safety and all of this anti-bacterial, highly sterilized stuff that we are supposed to eat? Not a whole lot. For instance I do not feel it is proper or right to drink sterilized, chemically treated water... and the list just goes on from there, I can assure you.

All of the attention paid to using anti-bacterial soap, dish liquids, even clothes (socks etc.) is doing far more harm then good. These are not necessary in the kitchen or anywhere else for that matter. We are living beings, that means inside as well as outside - when you deliberately kill off these organisms, on our bodies and in our food chain - disaster results. 

Our bodies, hands, skin, guts, and everywhere else is supposed to be ALIVE with bugs (that means bacterial colonies) to enable our immune systems to function properly as well as digest our food, make vitamins, essential fatty acids, participate in removal of toxins, keep inflammation in check and play a role in recovery and repair. 

Now does that sound like something you must eliminate at all costs from your body, food and life? Without these little critters, there would be no life. 

To get back to our food, I have seen things that would make your hair stand on end - perhaps another time, I will tell some stories from the food industry. However, suffice it to say, a lot of this resistance that I have been experiencing (energy that is not my own) has been focused on issues of food safety.

And I am tackling them one at a time while I continue on with my glorious journey into creating my own homemade foods. Food that we cook ourselves is perfectly safe - of course, we are not idiots, some things must be cooked, surfaces need to be clean (hot water and soap works for me), I do sterilize my jars and process my preserves according to instructions. 

However, there also comes a time to be reasonable as well. For instance, yesterday I mulled over what to do with the 2 jars of jam that did not seal. I know that they will keep perfectly well in the fridge for a few weeks, but I didn't want too many jars in there either.

When I went online to read up on re-processing the jams to see if they would re-seal, the amount of FEAR that I encountered in peoples' comments was astounding. You can't do that, you mustn't do this, the jam will go off, the jar is no longer sterile, there is risk, this is a food hazard blah blah. 

It would have been laughable if it wasn't so sad. These same people were sterilizing their jars with bleach, had jams with twice as much sugar as fruit, were using paraffin wax in their sealing and treated tap water to cook their produce - they had all bought into the food safety scare mongering. 

But, with not a clue that the chemicals in bleach, water, and wax and of course sugar are far more toxic! There was one lone voice amongst the melee, an elderly woman who mentioned that she had been making jam for many years and of course as long as you follow the procedure of canning, there is no problem. 

I wanted to bring this up for one main reason - the jams that I have been making at home are lasting far longer then the ones (superior quality) that we used to buy at the shops. The only reason I can put forward at this point, after having made quite a few jars myself, is that I am using ripe organic healthy fruit, no preservative, sweetener or pectin, with clean (living) water....

I have a feeling this plays a far larger role in our food chain then anyone would want us to think. 

Have a healthy day,

April

Coriander seeds coming up

Sweet & Sour Honey Pickled Beets

Today I am making pickled beets - with some old larger jars that I had on hand but had not used as they are nearly too large for my canning pot. But, they do mostly fit, so I have been giving it a go to see if I can get these to turn out.

By the way, my jam I made yesterday in the flip top jars, failed to seal in 2 of the jars. Now I know what I don't like about these jars! Because there is no lid that 'pops' when it seals, you do not know if the seal has taken until the next day when you can undo the clamp and see if the lid opens.

I can re-process them again in boiling water or leave them in the fridge and we'll have to eat them sooner. Before I started to become negative about it, I stopped to remind myself that my first try with the other type of jars did the same thing, so perhaps this is all part of the learning curve.

Even as I write this, there is another jar of sweet & sour honey pickled beets in the canner. The entire process of making pickles is far more involved and messy - but again it is something that would only be done a couple of times a year and we would get to enjoy more yummy foods made at home.

1 litre jars for the beets

For the beets I read and read what other people have done and finally decided on a few ingredients that I would enjoy with the beets. These are very sweet vegetables, so I was amazed at the amount of sugar people were putting in with their pickling juice. 

Boiling water bath with the larger pot and jar

Of course, no sugar here, so to keep it from being overly sour I added a little bit of honey, cinnamon, cloves and the vinegar. It certainly smelled lovely, but it takes a couple of weeks to cure before it should be tasted. 

Chopped cooked beets ready to go into jars - hot

As I am fasting for the next week, that is not a problem, but once again I am looking forward to tasting these foods that I am making. Oh and by the way, the jars with the beets sealed right up (popped) a few minutes after coming out of the boiling water bath, music to my ears! LOL

Off to go figure out a recipe for these gherkins....

April

1 litre jar of pickled beets 

Be Prepared...Trying Something New in Jam Jars

During these past few weeks as I cook more and more of the little 'extras' that we had been buying, I have come to realize a couple of important things. One, I have already mentioned here, the fact that making jam, mayonnaise, mustard or anything else that we might desire, is easy.

It is so easy, that anyone can do it and everyone should. I don't use anything additional in the jam, just fruit and often a little lemon or spices. For other foods to be made at home, once you have the raw ingredients, which by the way are also easily found - the rest is straight forward.

However, the one glitch in any of this (not really a glitch but might be for some) is that I have to look (search) for the implements and tools that enable me to do the canning at home safely. But, once I started looking around in earnest, I am finding the things I need. They are just not all in one place! 

When I was mulling this over today, another thought occurred to me about cooking, eating and having the things we need at home to prepare the foods we would like to eat. Not many of us are that prepared anymore - kitchens have been getting smaller and less well stocked, but also, we have forgotten how to use many of these items or we have become reluctant to use them. 

It really is as simple as looking things up online, and asking people when you are out and about. Today, in the shop where I bought a few more of my jars for canning, there were different and new jars and I felt reluctant and intimidated, hesitant to use them. So, I had put off buying them for a couple weeks.  

Well, today I have the new jars, they are the flip top lids and are used a little differently from the other ones. I have just made some more jams from the left over fruit in the house (I never like to see things go off and be thrown out), so I will keep you posted on how I feel about these jars. 

The new flip top jars - in lifters (tiffin holders!)

So far, they are a little more work, however I do like the closures on these ones far better because it will be more convenient to use once the jams are open. Just now I made 3 jars of kiwi, peach, apple & ginger jam - but I used different implements in order to lift and handle the jars. 

Filled with the jam I made today

Why was I so reluctant to use this type of jar? I think that I just had it in my head that the other ones were easy and doing something new was not going to be the same. It is amazing how stuck we can become sometimes with an old idea or thought in our heads.... 

Well I am off to push myself a little further and see if I can figure out how to do pickles. Another thing I have been putting off, but not anymore, because I have all the ingredients in the house and they will be done.

All the best,

April

Water is Life

I don't know if I could ever say enough about water - it is everything for us here as humans and I have changed my life as a result of it. Today is the start of my 10 day Master Cleanse for August, the last one that I committed to doing and of course, I am thinking a lot about water.

In the last few years I have gone to great lengths to find clean sources of water for drinking and cooking whenever we have not had access to a well in our house. Where ever we go, we bring our own water and I think that I started a trend (amongst Nutrition students) years ago by using only glass jars for my drinking water. 

When I completed my masters thesis, the only topic that interested me and I wanted to study, was water - so I ended up undertaking a research project on the bottled water industry. At the time it had reached a peak and was then in decline because of the ban on plastic products in some areas. 

My interest in water has not waned, but has only gotten stronger over the years since. Now with following and living The Pagan Diet, water is a huge component of detox and cleansing, while real water makes an enormous difference to the taste of your cooking and the nutrition in food.  

Of course, I make a distinction between tap water (or any other form of treated, bottled and commercial water) and water that comes directly out of the ground, which to me is real. There is simply no substitute for clean untreated water in your diet and for your body in general.

Water has many interesting properties as well and I believe makes our food taste far better when we use water that is living. Even the bible mentions 'living water' - which to me has come to mean alive with minerals and nutrients from the earth and not processed in the manner of tap water. 

So, why is water so important? First of all, we can live perfectly well for quite some time without food, however we cannot live without water. It makes up more than 66% of our body cells and perhaps as much as 73% of brain tissue. 

Athletes (remember the recent Olympics?) build up muscle cells which store even greater amounts of water necessary for hydration during training and competition. Breast milk for human babies is also nearly 88% water - showing us how much of a vital substance this is for all growth and development. 

Water is the Universal Solvent (for those of us doing regular detoxes and Master Cleanses) this fact tells the story of all that water means for us. More substances are dissolved in water then any other. This is why we take showers with water and not any other liquid! LOL 

Water cleans our bodies inside and out - loosening up embedded debris, toxins and pulling out built up by-products of digestion and metabolism. I would never even consider drinking anything other then the cleanest water, right out of the ground. 

So, for the next 10 days, I will be drinking my Master Cleanse juice, which is mostly water, while I allow my body to empty out another layer of toxins, clean up, balance and heal. 

Following a 'processed food free' lifestyle also includes removing sources of manufactured water which is full of chemicals, medications, pollutants and other contaminants. All sources of toxins must be considered here if we want to do this properly and clean up our bodies. 

Perhaps it's time to take action where water is concerned in your life?

April

Water droplets collect on Lady's Mantle in my garden

There's Nothing To Eat

I remember this!!! Yes, those were the days, come in the door from work and immediately be thinking to myself - there is absolutely nothing to eat here. And to be looking around the kitchen (tired, drained, weary) for something to prepare - in a mindless haze from the outside word.

In. A. House. Full. Of. Food. 

Does any of this sound familiar to you? The fridge would be full, the cupboards bursting and still - there was not one thing that was formulating inside of my head to make as a meal for my family. Many times I eventually came up with something (and surprised myself that a meal could be made from few ingredients) other times I ended up getting something else.

It was just too convenient to order a take away or get a ready meal - there is something on every corner and it is a 'treat' after a long stressful day following someone else's dreams. We are put in a position where someone else is in charge of our food, nutrition, tastes, portion sizes and then (through this  virtual reality) became a part of the family.

Of course, many years ago I left all of this behind - however I have my moments every now and then where I remember full well what it was like to 'think' that way. It was a mind set, a frame of mind that I would fall back into as if someone had pushed a button and I could no longer think clearly enough about what to feed myself.

I knew then and I know it even more clearly now, a reset button needed to be pushed where food was concerned and my eyes opened to the fact that we need very little to make a decent meal and there is always potential.

So, let's see - in the cupboard at the end of the week I have onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, a leek, pumpkin - add to that a few lentils and rice and I have a balanced meal. Or, if you only have an onion, rice and a tin of fish - stir-fry the onion, toss with the cooked rice, add in the fish and you have a tasty dish.

Need some other ideas? How about a sandwich (bread, tuna, lettuce, mustard) and a bowl of lentil soup that can be made in minutes...with lentils, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, sweet potato and a carrot? There is also pasta (we like spelt or rice pasta) and a quick stir-fry of onion, sugar snap peas, garlic, grated carrot tossed with pesto - all made from vegetables and herbs growing in the garden.

Or, how about being more organized and prepared where your meals are concerned? Novel idea that it is, when you guess at the end of the day you might be home looking for something to eat, perhaps beans or lentils could be soaked ahead of time. Veggies chopped or a few ingredients left out to remind you of what you had planned to prepare? 

This thinking - 'there is nothing to eat' used to make me feel so frustrated, tired and then disappointed with myself because I would often end up eating the wrong types of foods and too much of them. It was an immature attitude toward feeding myself (food was a reward and I deserved all these 'treats') like giving a baby candy. 

Changing my attitude towards food, diet, eating, nutrition and my entire approach to cooking has been more then a lifestyle change, it has been a coming of age. 

Enjoy your day,

April

Spelt pasta - stir-fry with veggies from the garden and homemade pesto

April