Posts Tagged With: high energy

Himalayan Porridge

Posted on December 16, 2012 by leroy watson

Himalayan Porridge

We are a long, long way from the Himalayas at the moment. We can see the beautiful blue Mediterranean from our terrace! There are a few hills, but thats it for undulations. It is winter here in Murcia though and it can get a little chilly in the mornings so this very special porridge has kept Jane and I nice and cosy.

This recipe has made it’s way to the Beach House all the way from the high Himalayas in northwest India, a tiny village set below some of the most beautiful mountain ranges imaginable. Our wonderful friend Mary is spending the winter up there with her new husband Arjun. Mary is braving -20oC weather conditions and much snow in a small traditional house. The peace and beauty of the place is truly magical.

This porridge is a recipe that they make together regularly to warm their cockles; simple, cheap and very hearty. This porridge sticks to the ribs all day and acts as central heating for the body way up there in the mountain airs.

I visited the Himalayas a couple of years ago and was blown away by the beauty, diversity and scale of this mountain range. I had the pleasure of meeting Mary in the small village that she now calls home, but luckily visited in the summertime when it is snow free!

Up in the Himalayas, near the source of the Ganges, 2010

This porridge is super high energy food and will set anybody up for the day ahead. Nuts, honey, oats and coconut mean that it’s a very tasty treat too and the spices add a very Indian flavour. Most of the ingredients must be soaked the night before, this makes them swell up and release more nutrients, it also makes them easier to digest and cook.

We didn’t have cashews for the recipe, so we used hazelnuts instead. Cashews will certainly give it more of Himalayan feel, they are freely available up there.

Remember to cook your porridge on a low heat and stir regularly. Good porridge needs good lovin’ and attention. No lumps, nice and smooth.

We have made this recipe dairy free by using soya yoghurt and milk and it is equally delicious.

Over to Mary, way up their in the rare airs……

The Bits

2 mugs of organic oats, lots of whole organic milk, 1 small handful of freshly grated coconut, 4 cardamoms, 1 small stick of cinnamon, 1 full handful of organic sultanas, honey (to taste), handful of cashew nuts chopped and roasted (without using oil), live Greek yogurt

Do It

Leave all the ingredient’s (bar honey, nuts and yogurt) soaking in milk overnight. In the morning add more milk and simmer as slowly as possible (this is one for the bottom of an Arga) for 30 minutes using one of those flat metal mats to diffuse the flame.

Pour onto a dinner plate and spread evenly. Wait for 5 minutes then cover with a thin’ish layer of live curd (organic thick Greek yogurt will suffice), drizzle honey on top and sprinkle with halved roasted cashew nuts. Serve the liquid from the coconut first to aid digestion. The nuts and coconut take a number of hours to digest so it’s very satisfying for us poor sadhus!

Serve

Allow to cool (remember the three bears story!!!!) and top with more nuts and raisins.

Himalayan Porridge (by the pool in a tapas bowl!)

We Love It!

Just thinking about Mary and Arjun sitting around their fire and eating this breakfast fills us with the magic of travel and the beauty of world.

Foodie Fact

Oats are a hardy grain that flourishes in the worst of soil conditions. Even though most oats are hulled this does not remove their bran and germ, this maintains their nutritional and fibre properties. If sustenance and energy is what you are looking for, you cannot beat an oat. They are also great for people suffering from diabetes or heart conditions due to some unique antioxidants.

Mary at her tiger pool up in the Himalayas

Categories: Breakfast, Recipes | Tags: breakfast, cashew, food, high energy, himalayas, honey, india, photography, porridge, recipes, vegetarian | 15 Comments

Sava’s Elephant Garlic Flower Salad

Posted on June 7, 2012 by leroy watson

Sava’s last lunch at the BHK

Here was this lunch offering, made by Jane and Sava. A crunchy wonder, with bucket loads of veggies, topped with the ever intriguing, elephant garlic flowers.

This was Savannah’s last meal with us and we wanted it to be special. We rustled up a few different salads, dips and even a piquant beige guacamole.

Sava is originally from South London, but is currently masterminding world domination (Sava style) which means spreading love, happiness and vibrant energy to all corners of the world. Sava is also an ace vegan chef and was the perfect house guest during this raw time at the Beach House. We have spent most of our time sitting around talking about food and travel, two of our most favourite chat topics. Its been a gas….

Sava has an brilliant travel website, all about travelling the world and living your wildest dreams. Its called travel butterfly. Sava has just returned from travelling around Central and Southern America and there are loads of wonderful tales, images and tips to be found there.

These garlic flowers have thick stems with a potent garlic punch (the whole house stank of garlic after chopping a few up). The flowers seem edible, with small yellow petals. One bunch has lasted us quite a few days as its best used sparingly. Warning, if you are worried about garlic breath, do not approach these flowers (and stop worrying).

You may like to add some spirulina, wheat grass or barley grass powder to the topping if you are raw, or even if you aren’t, this would give you a serious boost. These are three heavyweight contenders of the superfood world. It is said that you can live on these green powders (the barley grass actually tastes of dried fish) but not even I will venture this far down the road of cleaning my internals up. The barley powder we have is labelled as a ‘powerful’ food and should be eased into, you wouldn’t want to over do it (this all seems very tame compared to my tequila slammer days, but unimaginably healthier!).

These salads are always super easy to get together, we’ve made them per person so you can just have it yourself, or share with the people you really, really like. This is a big salad and designed to be a main meal so there is a lot of ingredients in it. We realise this goes against some of our ‘The Big Four Raw Food No No’s’ but we are trying to be good! We topped it with the elephant garlic flowers so we could measure the amount we ate with eat spoonful, it also looked great.

Elephant garlic flowers

The Bits

Per person – Handful of baby corn, 1 carrot (chopped), handful of mangetout, 1 ripe tomato, 1/2 courgette (chopped), 1/2 apple (green and sour is best, chopped), 1 stick of celery, handful of cucumber (chopped), handful of cos lettuce (chopped), 2 teas linseeds, 1 handful of mung bean sprouts, 2 teas alfalfa sprouts.

Topping – Handful of elephant garlic flower (chopped), handful of sunflower seeds, splash of olive oil.

Elephant Garlic Flower Salad

Serve

Layered with a creamy Miso, Tamari and Tahini Dressing, topped with the chopped elephant garlic flowers.

We Love It!

Mainly because Sava made it and she is very lovely indeed. The elephant garlic is amazing and well worth seeking out, it explodes in your mouth and adds a spot of romance to the plate.

Foodie Fact

Native Americans believe wild garlic to help against ailments such as high blood pressure, asthma and scurvy.

Our Morning Juice Routine

Is stuttering along. We are still getting into the routine of a mid-morning juice. I used to have a nice jug of coffee, now its a yogurt pot full of fresh juice. I know which one my body prefers (bit sometimes I miss that aroma).

Jane made a magic juice this morning with the trusty Magimix. Simple and not really worth a separate post, its similar to a couple we have done before. It was a zesty Apple, Carrot and Ginger. The perfect balance of sweetness with a kick of ginger. Here is Jane mid juice:

Jane making morning juice

We aim to be drinking at least one juice per day and are finding that we are not hungry in the mornings. This would make sense, all of our nutritional requirements are being met, so the absorption cycle of the body doesn’t really kick in until 12pm. That’s when we whip out the salads.

We plan on getting a 25 kilo bag of carrots from a farm down the road and really getting juicy next week. Apparently, if you drink too much carrot juice, you actually turn orange. Watch this space, will make for interesting pictures I’m sure.

Happy days aheadX

Categories: Breakfast, Friends of B.H.K, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, Raw Food, Recipes, Salads, Sauces, Side Dish, Superfoods, Vegan | Tags: ailments, apple, asthma, barley grass powder, barley powder, carrot, cook, corn, elephant garlic, flax seeds, flowers, food, garlic breath, ginger, global, guest, happiness, healthy eating, healthy living, heart disease, high energy, juicer, juicing, linseeds, low fat, magimix, miso, native american, potent garlic, raw, raw food, raw vegan, recipes, remedy, salad, spirulina, sprouts, sunflower, superfood, superfoods, tahini, tamari, travel, travel butterfly, vega chef, vegan, vegetarian, wheat grass | 1 Comment

Bitter Apple and Banana Smoothie

Posted on April 2, 2012 by leroy watson

An improvised number, but a good one.

This was one Bramley apple that was hanging around and a nice ripe banana. A great combo of sweet and bitter to get the palate going in the morning. If you’d like a real filling smoothie, add a handful of oats. If you fancy a rich smoothie, add yoghurt.

So it’s a slice of bitter England meeting sweet Costa Rica.

This is enough for two cups of goodness.

The Bits

One chopped Bramley (cooking) apple, one banana, 2 cups of soya milk (or whatever milk you prefer), a blob of good yoghurt (optional).

Do It

Stick it all in a blender and give it a whizzzzzzzzzzzzz.

We Love It

It’s a good way to use our abundance of Bramley apples at the minute, there’s only so much apple pie you can eat!

Foodie Fact

The first Bramley Apple tree grew in Nottingham, England 1809 (how is this known!) and is named after a butcher named Matthew Bramley.

Nottinghams finest!

Categories: Breakfast, gluten-free, Raw Food, Recipes, Smoothies, Vegan | Tags: bramley apple, breakfast, cooking apple, dairy free, fruit, gluten-free, high energy, recipes, ripe banana, smoothie, vegan, vegetarian | Leave a comment

The Buzz Smoothie

Posted on March 30, 2012 by leroy watson

The Morning Zing!

It’s called ‘The Buzz’ for a reason. It’s a real lipsmacker!

This beats a double espresso buzz any day. One glass and you’re de-fuzzed. After drinking this concoction, the fruit sugars (fructose) and vitamins get to work and the morning coffee jolt seems a little beige in comparison.

It’s a vibrant looking number and bursting with citrus, sweet apple and carrot flavours. Packed full of all the good stuff that you need in the morning to get you fired up for another day of life. It’s a wake up call for the body and mind.

We don’t have a juicer (yet) so we blitz it all up in a food processor. I imagine these ingredients will make an amazing juice, maybe you’ll need to throw in another carrot or so.

Organic fruit and veg will make all the difference in your juices and smoothies with bags more flavour and juice, even if they cost a few pennies more. They will definitely have more nutrients in them, keeping your insides and outside in better condition. After visiting a few shops in Spain, I feel fortunate that we have the choice of organic in Britain. The carrots in this were particularly special, from Hootons Homegrown, Farm Shop on Anglesey (thats in Wales for global readers). We are blessed with some amazing producers in these parts.

Enjoy responsibly, this is full-on juice!

This recipe will make enough for 4 glasses of what is more a chunky juice than a smoothie. We keep some in the fridge for later, it’s so full of good things that it takes care of any mid-morning hunger pangs.

The Bits

All chopped into chunks – 1 apple (unpeeled), 1 carrot (unpeeled), 2 oranges, 1 grapefruit (a squeeze of lemon if you really want a hit!), 2 cups of filtered water (or 1 cup of water, 1 1/2 cups of ice)

Do It

Put it all in a blender and whizz it up. Taste and add more water if needed.

We Love It!

The colour alone helps get my juices going. We like the balance of sweet and acidic in this one.

Foodie Fact

Grapefruit (Citrus Paradisi or Paradise Citrus in Latin) is full of vitamin C. On average, half a grapefruit contains 75% of your required Vitamin C for the day. It also contains the super antioxidant lycopene.

Without getting to grim and technical, eating more grapefruit (and Organic fruit and vegetables) lessens your chances of catching things and dying in general. Hooray!

The usual suspects

Categories: Breakfast, gluten-free, Juices, Low G.I. (glycemic index), Organic, Raw Food, Recipes, Smoothies, Snacks and Inbetweens, Vegan | Tags: breakfast, dairy free, espresso, fructose, fruit, gluten-free, good sugars, grapefruit, healthy living, high energy, high nutrients, hootons homegrown farm shop, juice, juicer, juices, Low carbs, lycopene, morning buzz, nutrition, organic, organic fruit and vegetables, raw, recipes, smoothie, snacks, vegetarian, Vitamin C | 2 Comments

5 Minute Fig and Prune Compote

Posted on February 28, 2012 by leroy watson

The 5 minute compote with figs, prunes and a bit more. Prunes have always been so unfashionable, well not anymore. At least in the Beach House, they are very cool.

This is really quick and easy, perfect for a busy lifestyle. No stewing required and only dried fruit from the cupboards needed. Just chop the fruit, boil the kettle, leave in a fridge overnight. Thats it! Naturally sweet and zesty compote. Our kind of fast food!

I love the flavour of the rich figs and prunes with the lemon and tea balancing the flavours and sweetness nicely. Figs always remind me of Morocco, where I ate them by the ropes length (you buy them thread whole onto a rough length of rope). I normally opted for a foot-long! I was doing a lot of walking at the time.

We use this compote mainly on muesli, but it goes great with yoghurt and seeds as a healthy dessert or even in a smoothie that needs a sweetness kick.

This compote is designed to be kept in the fridge, not jarred. But you could experiment, like most things, it will get better with age!

This recipe will make enough for a decent bowl full of sweet fruity goodness. I added fresh plums here also, we managed to get some amazingly sweet local ones. When chopping the fruit, we like to keep them nice and chunky.

———————

5 Minute Fig and Prune Compote

The Bits

3 fresh plums (pitted and chopped, you may like to take the skins off)

4 dried figs (chopped)

6 dried apricots (unsulphured are best, chopped)

6 big fat prunes (chopped)

zest of 1 lemon (ribbons is best)

1 cup of hot black tea.

Do It
Make two cups of black tea (no milk!), one for you, one for the compote. Then leave to cool slightly while you chop the fruit and peel the zest off the lemon (use a good French peeler, so much easier, you could waste years of your life peeling spuds and zest!).

I now put it all into a tupperware dish, pour in the slightly cooled tea (removing the tea bag), allow to cool, then pop lid on and into the fridges.

That’s it!

Serve

Yoghurt, cereals, seeds, on top of cake, in a smoothie…………………………..

We Love It!

A good dose of natural sweetness and plenty of fibre from the prunes and apricots, leave the belly sweet and full.

Foodie Fact

Prunes are historically good for getting things moving down under. ‘Regularity’ I believe is a commonly used term. That will be the high soluble fibre content.

Back in the olden days (that’s the ’80’s by the way) prunes seemed to be almost medicinal, something you ate with a degree of suffrage. But they are delicious and contain rare phytonutrients and beta carotene (in the form of vitamin A) which have a huge benefit on your inner workings, cells, brain and all.

Categories: Breakfast, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Low G.I. (glycemic index), Recipes, Salads, Snacks and Inbetweens, Vegan | Tags: breakfast, compote, fruit, gluten-free, good sugars, high energy, high nutrients, recipes, salads, snacks, vegan, vegetarian | 4 Comments

Omega Seed Sprinkles

Posted on February 27, 2012 by leroy watson

Or what my Dad calls ‘bird food’.

Not really a recipe, but a necessity for our kitchen and definitely a Beach House Favourite. These sprinkles will crunch up any salad, yoghurt, cereal, bread, etcetcetc there are so many uses for these wonder seeds. I normally nibble them, sparrow-like, throughout the day. They are a lot cheaper than nuts and have bags of energy, nutrients and omega oils.

Seeds are one of those things that, if eaten regularly, are best bought in bulk. The small packs you are likely to find are normally quite costly. Have a look online, you can get bulk bags of seeds, rice, pulses etc and the delivery is normally free (if it’s over a certain amount). Order for a month.

It saves so much time and resources, when you consider the driving to the shops and time wasted standing aimlessly pondering a desirability/cost = happiness equation for a packet of Moroccan spices. I do this.

I struggle with British supermarkets on many levels, but the myriad choices of everything is incredible. I go into a cold sweat as I approach the muesli section! We are such a refined consumer society. I can tell you, it’s very different in Spain! No muesli for a start.

If I ever have the distinct displeasure of visiting a hyper-market environment, I go into some sort of consumer trance. Like a zombie, occasionally grabbing a shiny product. I do like wine sections though. It’s like travelling, in bottles.

These sprinkles will work with most seeds and if you feel like nuts, stick a few in. The linseeds and flax seeds don’t add a huge amount of flavour, but are very, very good for you. They are all toasted together to give a richer flavour and add a bit of crunch.

You can blend these seeds up, add a dash of water and make a brilliant seed butter (this is a real winner).

You will need a frying pan full of seeds, just enough to cover the bottom.

The Bits

Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, linseeds and flax seeds

Do It

Heat the frying pan on a medium to low heat, add the sunflower and pumpkin seeds first (or larger seeds/nuts). Heat and toss for around ten minutes, keep them moving, don’t hurry them. Then add the flax and linseeds and heat for another couple of minutes. They may pop a little and will darken in colour. The key is not to burn them, if they are getting too hot and dark, tip them onto a large plate and spread them out to cool.

Cool fully and keep in a jar.

We Love It

They go on anything and are a great, nutritious snack on their own.

Foodie Fact

These little gems are packed with super omega oils and energy. Russia is the leading producer of sunflower seeds globally. One sunflower head contains hundreds of seeds. They are full of energy in the form of poly unsaturated fats and mono-unsaturated fats which can lower cholesterol. They have one of the highest levels of complex vitamin B group and vitamin E (a powerful antioxidant)…….These little beauties are will keep you shining. Put them on everything!!!!

Categories: Budget, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Salads, Snacks and Inbetweens, Superfoods, Vegan | Tags: budget, dairy free, food, gluten-free, good fats, healthy living, high energy, high nutrients, larder, Low carbs, omega oils, salads, seeds, snacks, Super Foods, superfoods, vegan, vegetarian | Leave a comment

Mum’s Blueberry and Cranberry Granola

Posted on February 16, 2012 by leroy watson

My Mum’s name is Carol and we are alike in many ways. We are both good sleepers and enjoy nothing more than a wee lie-in and a lazy breakfast, at our leisure, normally stretching way beyond lunchtime.

Granola is always a key munch at these indulgent occasions. We like it so much that Mum has started to make her own. Heres what Mum has to say:

“Hello cooking companions,

Blueberry and Cranberry Granola

225g Rolled Oats, 15g soft brown sugar, 45g Wheatgerm, 2 tbsp Maple syrup (or Honey), 55g Millet flakes, 2 tbsp sunflower oil, 1 tbsp Sesame seeds, 2 tbsp orange juice, 2 tbsp Sunflower seeds, 2 tbsp flaked Almonds, 50g dried Blue berries, 50g dried Cranberries, 10 bashed up Brazil Nuts (if you’re feeling flush!)

A delicious toasted Muesli, this is made from a tempting mix of grains, nuts, seeds and colourful red and blue berries.
Stirring Maple syrup and Orange juice into the mix helps to keep the oil content down making this version much lower in fat than most ready made Crunchy cereals.

Makes 500g

Pre heat 160c – 325f gas 3

1 – In a large bowl mix together Oats, Wheatgerm, Millet flakes, Sesame and Sunflower seeds Almonds, Dried Berries and sugar. Stir until mixed well.

2 – Put the Maple syrup, Orange juice, and oil in a small jug and mix together. Pour this mixture slowly into dry ingredients stirring to ensure that the liquid is evenly distributed.

3 – Spread mixture evenly over a non – stick roasting pan. Bake for 30 = 40 mins until golden brown.

4 – Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Store in a air tight container for up to two weeks.

Serve with milk, fruit or yogurt..

Lots of good thoughts coming your way

Mamxxxxx”

Enjoy lazy breakfast and carefree days (this granola will help!)XXXXXX

Mum's hut (but she lives in a house really)

Categories: Breakfast, Friends of B.H.K, Recipes, Relax, Snacks and Inbetweens, Vegan | Tags: breakfast, dairy free, fruit, granola, high energy, Mum's, recipes, vegetarian | Leave a comment

Abigail’s Apple and Pumpkin Vegan Loaf

Posted on February 6, 2012 by leroy watson

The heavyweight cake

This is cake in loaf shape.

If you’re looking for something that goes well with a cup of tea, tastes amazing and does your body some good, this fruity loaf’s for you.

I took this recipe from Abigail’s blog http://tofuandflowers.blogspot.com/ which has a lot better pictures than mine and importantly, the loaf seemed to have turned out well. Although I did change and add to the original. As you can see, my didn’t rise particularly well, I put it down to not having baking powder! Otherwise, this is a very simple cake recipe and very tasty.

This loaf really packs a punch! It’s a heavyweight and really feels like ‘food’, not just a dessert. Its packed full of fruit and nutrition, no dairy and only has a little added sweetness.

I used honey instead of agave, which I prefer.

With this amount of mixture, I made one big loaf and six small muffins, although Abigail seemed to have fed the five thousand!!!

The Bits

Dry Ingredients: 1 c. oatmeal (plus more to sprinkle on top), 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour, 1/2 c. white flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. allspice, 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 c. chopped apple (about 1/3 of a large apple; use the rest with the wet ingredients), 1 c. chopped walnuts (or hazelnuts)
Wet Ingredients: 1 1/2 c. roasted pumpkin, 1 banana, 1 1/2 tsp. fresh grated ginger, 1 c. chopped apple (about 2/3 of a large apple, what you have left over from the wet ingredients), 1/2 c. agave (or 2 tbs honey), 3/4 c. coconut milk (half of a can), 1 1/2 tsp. almond extract, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract.

Do It

Get your pumpkin nicely soft and coloured in a pan and set aside, then:

1. Preheat oven to 200oC. Oil and flour a large loaf tin and muffin tray.
2. In a large bowl, stir together all dry ingredients except the nuts and 1/2 c. chopped apple.
3. In a blender, blend together all wet ingredients (including the 1 c. chopped apple).
4. Mix the pumpkin into the dry ingredients. Once almost completely combined, add the chopped walnuts and apples. Mix up with a nice wooden spoon.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the loaf pan and muffin tray. Sprinkle oatmeal on top of the batter and press the oats into the batter a little.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The loaf will take longer than the muffins.
7. Remove from oven, and cover loaves (still inside their pans) tightly with foil. Allow to steam for 10 minutes. Remove foil, and turn out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely.

Serve

With a dollop of creamy yoghurt.

We Love It

This is a lovely moist spiced nibble at this time of year. Its pretty much guilt free (if you get guilty about eating food) and is almost a meal in itself.

Foodie Fact

Cinnamon, originally from Sri Lanka, is a wonder bark. It has the highest levels of anti-oxidant strength of all foods. Cinnamon is also anti-inflammatory, anti-septic, rich in minerals and is proven to be soothing. In Ayurveda, Cinnamon is used to treat diabetes, colds and indigestion.