Kiwi and Pear Vegan Smoothie Recipe

Smoothies are possibly my favourite 'everyday' breakfast. I'd love to have pancakes everyday (who wouldn't?!), but they take forever to prepare and make me feel a little groggy. I find that a good smoothie with a cup of lemon and ginger tea is the perfect remedy for turning a grumpy morning Steph into somebody who is actually a functional human being. I love experimenting with smoothie recipes, but usually end up coming back to the same basics that involve berries and salad. The recipe I have for you guys today however veers a little off of my beaten track, and is totally berry free *cue shocked face*. It's a completely green smoothie, but still contains a lot of fruit, so you can drink something sweet whilst all of your friends stare in envy at your green goddess smoothie Instagram posts. 
I love how quick and simple smoothies are for when you need to make breakfast in a rush. You can even chop everything up the night before and put it in the fridge, so that all you have to do in the morning is drop everything into your blender and hit the power button. I've actually posted a TONNE of smoothie recipes here on Nourish ME, but not in the past few months. If you're looking for more smoothie inspiration, here are just a couple more of my recipes:
- Mango vegan smoothie - Strawberry and basil smoothie (this is one of my all time favourites!) - Antioxidant green smoothie

So, without further ado, here's how to make a yummy kiwi and pear smoothie:
Ingredients:
1 kiwi 1 conference pear 1 large handful baby spinach 3 romaine lettuce leaves, or about 2 handfuls 1 small apple 150ml rice (or other alternative, e.g. almond, oat) milk
Method:
1.) Chop the kiwi, pear, apple and romaine lettuce up into small pieces. 2.) Place everything in the blender and whizz for a few minutes!
What's your go-to smoothie recipe?
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Nourish My Versatility | Seedy Health Boosts with Linwoods Health Foods*

Despite having slightly unreasonable health goals for 2016 (stop eating sugar, look like Blake Lively, develop mermaid hair etc.), I have one massive downfall that is the likeliest reason to keep me from achieving even my minor ones (doing yoga 5+ times a week, going to the gym regularly, cut down on my dairy intake): laziness. If I can see a way around doing something the long way, believe me, I'll be down that rabbit hole of a shortcut before you know it. Often this leads to unhealthy choices - I've ashamedly had my share of takeaways over the past couple of months - but here is an opportunity to allow myself to still be that little bit lazy and get the health kick I need with my meals: seeds. Now, I'm not one of those people that can sit there with a handful of seeds or nuts and eat them as a snack unfortunately, but this selection of seeds* from Linwoods helps me get around that issue. Chia seeds are my main gal in terms of the seed world. They really hit the healthy food sphere big time a couple of years ago and now almost everybody has heard of them. These Linwoods chia seeds* are used on pretty much a daily basis for me. Firstly they're fairly flavourless, so I can whack them in almost anything to add a little bit of much needed nutrition. They're always blended up in my smoothies and pancakes, and are great for topping fruit salads.  My next favourite is the Milled Organic Flaxseed, Sunflower & Pumpkin Seed*. I'm really not the greatest fan of sunflower or pumpkin seeds in their natural form. I find the flavours far too strong and can't abide the texture of the seeds themselves. So, this little mixture gives me the opportunity to add just a tiny bit of a nutritional kick to my soups and pastas without having them swimming in boldly flavoured crunchy seeds! Finally we have my lesser favourites of the bunch: shelled hemp* and goji berries*. Again, this is largely a flavour thing for me. Raisins are pretty much my enemy (why can't I just enjoy all the foods that are good for me?!), and goji berries lie a little too close to that territory in my opinion. However, if you're like the other 80%ish percent of the population and are a raisin fan. these are great for adding to muesli or granola and topping your fruit salads with. The hemp seeds are similarly fab for adding to cereal to make it taste less bland and add a little bit of protein to your meal. I hope I've given you all some ideas on how you can add just a little extra nutrition to a whole range of meals without any effort - see, this changing diet thing isn't so bad after all!

Topping Up On Nutrients | Raaw Juice Powder

Green smoothies are the perfect start to any day in my mind, but sometimes they get a bit dull and need a bit of extra zing to keep your taste buds interested. This pack of Raaw Juice Go Green sachets really hit the spot. They're crammed full of nutrients, and make the smoothie a little sweeter, which is great for someone who's got a bit of a sweet tooth (whoops!). Plus, the powder is great for making cute little pictures with, like the bunny I did above during Easter.  Here's what each sachet contains: Apple Pineapple Wheatgrass Barleygrass Coconut Milk Chlorella Kale  Spinach Coconut Water Stevia Silica As I'm lactose intolerant and my boyfriend is allergic to nuts (not the best combination, I know), I'm always on the lookout for things that avoid both, and this Raaw juice powder manages to do. Plus, not only is it dairy and nut free, but also gluten, egg, soya, wheat and mustard free as well as being suitable for vegans. Although it comes at quite a hefty price for seven sachets - £9.99, Holland and Barratt (where I purchased it from) have such frequent sales it is often available for a lot cheaper. What is your favourite supplement to put in smoothies?

My Experience | Raw Till 4 Week One

So much food inspo right? I've you've been keeping up with my instagram (@steph_nourishmindandbody) over the past few weeks, you will have noticed that I attempted and succeeded in doing raw till 4 for a fortnight. If you haven't heard of raw till 4, it's a lifestyle by which you only eat raw vegan foods until 4pm, usually in the form of mono meals (i.e. six mangoes, an entire melon, 8 peaches, etc.). Then in the evening you carb up and continue to avoid processed foods. Again, mono meals can be used here. The most popular dinner mono meal is a massive bowl of potatoes - and believe me, after a day of only eating raw fruits and vegetables, this is definitely an appealing choice!

The first few days for me were the best, and I think I might do it for three days once a month from now on to reset my system. I started raw till 4 a week before my first final exam, and it completely cleared the general sleepy fuzziness in my head up. I felt completely energised and as if I could take on the world.

However, since trying raw till 4, I've realised it is not the best idea for me. By time 4pm rolled around I had spent so long fantasising about cooked food all day that I ended up craving takeaways and ready meals - not something I want to eat on a regular basis. Plus, after a few days I felt as though I was really lacking in energy by time it got to about half four, and felt too lethargic to cook anything decent for myself. SO, I've taken on board what I've learnt and switched things around a little in an attempt to detox: I make a massive smoothie in the morning, and save half for dinner. I have my main meal at lunch time, which keeps me energised all afternoon!

Have you tried raw till 4? What did you think?

Love and Light

Steph

Baked Chicken in Tomato Sauce

This is going to be an uber quick post as this is such a simple dish. BUT it is packed with flavour, so don't worry about it tasting simple too. 

Ingredients (makes 1 serving):

1 chicken leg or breast

1 serving of my chunky tomato, onion & carrot soup (here)

Black pepper

Salt

1.) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

2.) Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place on a large sheet of foil. 

3.) Pour the sauce over the chicken. Loosely wrap the foil up around the both of them. Cook for 45 minutes.

Any comments or questions are always welcome :)

Love and Light

Steph

Back to Basics | Day One

Recently I've been falling away from my clean eats diet, and I've started to notice the effect it's having on both my physical and mental health. My sleeping pattern in particular has been all over the place. So, this week I'm going to be posting every day as I attempt to get back to basics, and remind myself why I started this journey. 

So, I've started off the week with a glorious trip to Wholefoods (honestly, I could spend hours in there). This is just a very small sample of some snack-type foods I picked up for when I feel like eating something really bad so that I don't do exactly that. Plus I've been hunting for Himalayan pink salt and wholegrain penne for just about forever, so my little beady eyes lit up with joy when I spotted these. 

As I sit here sipping on my Clipper's organic detox tea, which btw is a million times nicer than any other I've tried so far, I realise that I feel fulfilled about how I've spent my day for the first time in a couple of weeks. I hit the gym super hard for the first time in forever, and you can see the massive smile it put on my face in the top picture. 

Hope you all have a healthy, fulfilled week - what are your plans to improve your wellbeing?

Love and Light

Steph

Baked Cod on a Bed of Sweet Potato Mash

I'm not the greatest fan of the 'fruits of the sea', but I try to sneak a little bit into my diet here and there. This is probably one of my simplest dinner recipes to make that is up on the blog, and incredibly easy to present. Which means that if you're not the greatest cook, or want to show your parents/other half that cooking healthy dinners can be easy and delicious, then this is a pretty good meal to hit them with. I paired it with a side of kale (every food blogger's go-to), but you could very easily add a side salad, other dark greens, or a medley of roasted vegetables. 

Ingredients (makes 1 serving):

1 cod fillet

1 small sweet potato (or half a large one) 

1 teaspoon coconut oil/extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons tomato puree 

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Salt

Pepper

Parsley

1.) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (electric oven). 

2.) Peel and chop the sweet potato. Place in a pan of water and cook for 20 minutes after the water has started to boil.

3.) Season the cod with the olive oil, sea salt, ground black pepper and parsley. Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes.

4.) Once the sweet potato is soft, mash it with a little bit of coconut oil - this keeps the recipe dairy free and adds a little extra flavour to it. Add some black pepper. If you want, you can add a little cheese to make the mash really gooey!

5.) Place the cod on the potato. Mix the tomato puree with the lemon juice and drizzle over the top, or around the cod. Et voila, it's ready to eat!

Any comments/questions are always welcome

Love and Light

Steph

A Burst of Happiness Smoothie (dairy free)

As I've reached my third and final year at University (cue a fair amount of nostalgia and terror at the thought of getting a full time job), stress levels and time restrictions are reaching an all time high. This means that this smoothie has been my go-to breakfast for about the last four weeks. Every day. Anything else seems too carbilious - think "carb-filled" (if Shakespeare could invent new words so can I!) - or far too effort filled at quarter to eight in the morning. Now, as to why I've called it my "burst of happiness" smoothie, Bananas contain a great deal of Vitamin B6, which is something which allows your body to create serotonin (a chemical that, if your body lacks you may develop depression. This is a very simplistic definition of it, but let's not get too bogged down). Flaxseeds help increase serotonin as well. Thus, this smoothie really can help increase happiness! I usually end up sitting with mine whilst I start my uni work for the day if I have nowhere pressing to go to.

Ingredients (makes 1 smoothie):

1 banana

2 apples (or three small ones)

a handful of raspberries

150ml rice/almond milk

small handful of flaxseeds

Honey (optional)

1.) Slice up the banana. Peel and chop the apples.

(yes, this is something that cuts up your apples and cores them in one fell swoop. And yes, it is my favourite tool I have in the kitchen)

2.) Put them in a blender/food processor. Add the raspberries, flax seeds and rice milk.

3.) Blend for roughly two minutes.

Finally, pour it into a glass. I like to top mine up with a swirl of honey to add a little bit of sweetness when you get to the bottom (assuming you use a straw!). It's a fab way to get a whole load of vitamins in, and is great for keeping those sweet food cravings away. 

Love and Light

Steph