A super fruit bowl packed full of antioxidants and vitamins to start the day, this maqui bowl took 5 minutes to make. Cutting up the toppings actually took longer than the base part! If you can't get maqui then use acai, they're both similar in taste, and contain similar health benefits. I added granola and goat yogurt for the hubby, giving it a little more substance.
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Still trying to make my way through the kilo of maqui powder I have, I used some to make high energy, filling and delicious bars. Maqui berries contains exceptionally high levels of antioxidants, which are vital in overall wellbeing, and boosts the body's ability to fight against free radicals. Other benefits include anti-aging, weight loss, cardiovascular health, and provides plenty of vitamin C and potassium.
Blueberries offer similar health benefits and their sweetness offsets the slight tart flavour of the maqui powder. The two combined together makes for a great healthy sweet treat. Instead of adding nuts, which sometimes can be quite dense, I opted for pumpkin seeds and tahini instead. The overall taste of this is a sticky, slight sweet slice which is nutrient dense, so a little goes a long way!
I often buy health products in bulk, but sometimes it leaves my pantry overflowing, and every now and then when I go through it and do a clean up, I find hidden treasures, this time a kilo of maqui powder. I remember doing some research before I purchased it and after comparing them to acai, I found they contained slightly higher nutrients overall. So now I'm on a mission to use it all up making lots of treats. I started with a breakfast chia pudding, combining it with juicy blueberries.
Lentils are a great way of getting your protein in, and with the winter chills, a hot hearty stew is the way to go! There's no set ingredients for a stew, so it's a great opportunity to play around with the fresh veggies and spices you add in for some variety in flavour and cooking experiments. Last week we had some rich tomato sweeter stews so this one is more of a fragrant herb savoury dish, making good use of the earthiness taste from the puy lentils and mushrooms.
Last week my husband and I visited Melbourne for 5 days and made a list of all the vegan restaurants we had to go see. One particular place Smith & Daughters, and their New York style grab and go Deli, Smith & Deli stood out. They differ by offering 'meat' items on the menu, from chorizo, turkey, prawns, bacon etc but they're all vegan! It really was a different dining experience and our meals there were some of the best we had there. One evening we stopped by the deli and grabbed Beef Goulash and Chicken Salad for take away and whilst it wasn't the traditional meat taste, it was flavoursome and quite enjoyable. I used that as inspiration last night and created this thick hot stew full of carrots and mushrooms, then added chickpeas for the extra heartiness.
The last few weeks I've been making variations of these patties with chickpeas and soy beans, but I've been a little lazy posting up recipes so finally got around to it with this simple one. The great thing about these patties is that you can easily add spices or other vegetables into it and it's still delicious. Play around with curry powder, carrots, sweet potato etc and it's versatile enough to use in wraps, burgers and salads.
My friend Reza makes a great Persian lentil stew with either green or red lentils, potato and carrots. Potatoes are a bit too heavy for me and can mimic gluten in my system so I wanted to try it with sweet potato, and I thought that I'd change it up by using split peas instead. Even though both are healthy legumes and great for vegans, comparatively, 100g of split peas are more nutritious, containing higher levels of minerals, vitamins and proteins than lentils. Although Reza was sceptic through the whole cooking process, he actually said this version turned out better than his original one, so it was a win all around!
This last week I was away in Phuket so my husband had to fend for himself with food, he did quite well, but ended up eating kale and avocado every day. So I thought tonight I'd make something different to mix things up. I decided to go with falafels, but instead of using chickpeas which can cause bloating, I used sunflower seeds instead. Sunflower seeds are an excellent source of Vitamin E, which has significant anti-inflammatory effects and assists in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. The whole process took about 35 mins, super easy, very quick and delicious too!
Sweet potato is an amazing vegetable, because of it's starch it's best actually cooked in order for the body to digest it. There's several different varieties of sweet potato, usually you can tell by their colour, which also indicates the type of antioxidants they contain. The orange ones are an excellent source of beta-carotene, but the purple kind contains a different type of antioxidants called anthocyanins like those also found in blueberries and eggplants, helping to prevent against cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The Japanese sweet potato "Satsumaimo", which is purple on the outside, and white on the inside, is a great source of this particular antioxidant.
I have an abundance of basil right now in my garden, and I was catching up with my friend Ken for lunch so I thought I'd use it and make some pesto. To make it into a healthy lunch, I made raw pasta with zucchini. The whole thing took about 15 mins to make, and the result is fresh and flavoursome with enough left for my dinner.
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"I am not what happened to me,
I am what I choose to become" Carl Gustave Jung I'm Binny, a full time Bikram Yoga teacher and studio owner that lives in Perth, Australia.
I started this blog to share the things I love the best in the world: being healthy and happy, food (especially raw), yoga, traveling and most importantly, learning how to love and be true to myself. I suffered from severe digestive problems when I was younger, being gluten and lactose intolerant, and developed compartment syndrome and fibromyalgia in my teens. I have lived with constant pain for over 16 years now. Over the past 10 years, I've shifted to a mainly plant based diet and realised that being well and healthy is a way of life. I have been teaching Bikram yoga since 2011, in the US and Australia. Due to my health issues I've also had a lot of bodywork done as well as explored alternative therapies. I've become much more aware of myself as a result of all this - physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. Right now I love my life. In my career I love what I do and I do what I love. I have traveled to some amazing places around the world and made lifelong friends. In between working and traveling, I cook up a storm in the kitchen, especially raw desserts, spend time with the people I love the best, which now includes a yoga husband, a mini yogini Estell, and our dog! I try to listen to my body the best I can. I truly believe that we all have the power and the capabilities to heal our own bodies, to nourish the spirit and seek our own happiness and life's purpose. This my journey... Archives
August 2019
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