warming winter roots juice

Hello dear readers! Thank you for tuning in to read this week's blog post! I'm glad you could be here! If you live in Australia, like me, you'll know that by the end of this week the season will have changed and winter will have arrived. I love how the seasons change but winter can be tough on the vitamin D levels, the exercise motivation levels and the raw food consumption levels. All tend to be lower for me! But, I've got a plan. I'm taking a liquid vegan Vitamin D3 supplement, I've just bought the cutest mint green vintage bicycle from Reid Cycles and I'm being mindful of putting more warming foods into my body (and I don't just mean the good ole vegetable soup!). There are foods we can eat that even in their raw (uncooked) state are warming to the body. These warming foods are in season during wintertime - think hearty root vegetables and an array of spices… like those in my winter roots juice.

And if you've been wondering about my health coaching practice, I'll be starting up in August once I've finished my course at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Please stay tuned for more details! 

winter roots juice

1 cup filtered water (blender use only)
1 large carrot
1 celery stalk
1/2 lemon, with or without peel
handful of greens (coriander, dandelion, parsley, spinach)
knob of ginger, with or without skin
slice of turmeric (optional), with or without skin







Wash all ingredients before passing through a juicer or using a high-powered blender to blend with a cup of water and then strain through a nut milk bag or cheesecloth. Pour into a 500ml glass bottle or BPA-free/stainless steel drink bottle and top up with filtered water. Then sip slowly through a straw. Be warm! Serves 1.

Quote for the Road…

how to grow your nails

My nails have been a small but very significant reflection of my inner physical health. Up until the last couple of years, since before my health reboot, I've never had long or strong nails. Growing my nails has always been a challenge as they would split and break - every single time. I even got fake nails for my sister's wedding but I felt like my fingers were suffocating (weird, right?!) and they absolutely wrecked my fingernails! (Not to mention the toxic fumes I inhaled at the nail salon where I got them done!)

However, today you can see from the pics below that my nails are 100% mine and long and strong! 

I've been accidentally growing them for a month (I couldn't be bothered cutting them short like I usually do) and low and behold there has been no breaking, no splitting and no suffocating. The only maintenance has been regular filing. That's it. No buffers, polishes, hand lotions, no wearing gloves to protect them. Just growth.

Yes, how in the world have my nails become long and strong after twenty-odd years of wear and tear? As always it comes down to what I put into my body and what I don't put into my body. For over a year now I have not worn nail polish. Nail polish is toxic; all the chemicals in nail polish are absorbed through your nails, your skin and into your body. You can get natural nail polishes but I haven't tested any out yet. It was simply easier to forgo nail polish for awhile. 

And since our bodies are being built by the food we eat, cell by cell, foods that are rich in the mineral silica are going to build and strengthen our nails (and our bones, skin and hair too). 

Foods that are high in silica include:

• alfalfa
• almonds
• apples
• barley
• beets
• bell peppers
• brown rice
• burdock root
• carrots
• celery
• chickweed
• cucumbers
• dandelion
• flaxseeds
• grapes
• hemp leaves
• horsetail tea, juice or extract 
• jerusalem artichoke
• millet
• nettle leaves
• oats
• oranges
• potatoes
• radish
• raisins 
• soybeans
• spinach
• tomatoes

How easy is this - to grow your nails long and strong eat these silica-rich foods and chuck out the toxic nail polish. And you may want to invest in a glass/crystal nail file for your beautiful new nails too. Happy filing!

Quote for the Road… 

sugar-free green smoothie

Today, May 12th, is the International ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) Awareness Day. ME/CFS is the chronic illness from which I am recovering my health and my life. Being healthy is a vehicle, not a destination, and your health will enable or disable you. That is why I am passionate about sharing what I've learnt so far on my journey to better health. My desire is for you to experience better health too. If you want to learn more about this misunderstood illness then check out this link. And then, check out my sugar-free green smoothie recipe below - perfect for anyone with fructose malabsorption or following a low-to-no-sugar diet for Candidiasis!

With my Mama Bear for an early Mother's Day lunch… 

…at the Earthly Pleasures Cafe in Belgrave, Melbourne

For those who are looking for healthy places to eat in Melbourne check out this little list of mine!

sugar-free green smoothie

2 of 330ml coconut water (~2 3/4 cups)
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/2 large avocado (or 1 small avocado)
1 aloe vera leaf (optional)
1 Tbs hemp seeds
1 tsp spirulina powder
shake ground cinnamon
dash vanilla extract
liquid stevia, to taste (optional)
2 handfuls leafy greens (e.g. kale, spinach, swiss chard)

Add the ingredients into a high-powered blender in the order listed and blend until smooth and creamy, then chill. Serves 2.

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more favourite vegan recipes

Melbourne has been quite wintry this past week so out of my kitchen came pots of veggie soup. I drew upon some old recipes in my head and made my own versions of a creamy pumpkin soup with coconut milk and a vegetable minestrone soup with quinoa. I reckon soup will be a staple for me again this winter as it's an easy way to use the wilting vegetables, greens and herbs in the fridge, and it's a quick and satisfying dinner on a cold night, not to mention bursting with goodness! Of course I'm still eating a high raw vegan diet but in the colder months I do add more cooked food back into my meal plans along with lots of low-sugar smoothies, green vegetable juices, salads, fermented foods, sautéed vegetables and porridges made with a gluten-free grain-like seed, such as amaranth, buckwheat, millet or quinoa, as well as copious amounts of filtered water, herbal teas and kombucha.

Last month I shared some of my favourite vegan recipes with you. Today, I'm sharing more of my favourite vegan recipes to help you plan out nourishing meals for you and your family this winter… 

quinoa power porridge

green galor-a-saurus salad

raw vegetable curry with cauliflower rice

roasted pumpkin and carrot soup

rawesome spaghetti marinara

raw chocolate cupcakes 

I'll be making my favourite vegan recipes a regular blog post so if you have any recipe requests let me know in the comments section or connect with me on my Facebook or Instagram. Until next time, happy cooking my friends!

Quote for the Road…