Posts Tagged With: raw

RAW! The Beach House goes raw in June

Posted on April 11, 2012 by leroy watson

Fancy a juice?

The Beach House Kitchen is going RAW for June (maybe longer). We are really looking forward to the challenge and the obvious health benefits. Our inspiration for this was a great man named Rob, his enthusiasm for all things raw convinced us to give it a go.

I have some experience with raw food, but would love some advice/ tips/ recipes from avid raw ones. Any ideas would be brilliant.

We are planning to acquire a good juicer/ blender and are fortunate to have a few good organic producers nearby, we may look on-line to get some ingredients in. It won’t all just be juices, I plan on making cakes, raw soups, stews etc. It really is a very diverse and little known area of cooking (or non-cooking). I fully expect a surge in energy levels and a full dose of shiny energy.

All tempting food stuffs will be banished to the garage, the cravings will be tough for the first few days I’m sure. Better that the muesli and coffee is kept under lock and key.

This may sound strange to non-raw folk, but your energy levels go through the roof when you cut out cooked and carbs. We will be going down the raw vegan route, so the lack of dairy gives the system a rest also. One of the primary reasons for the surge in energy is that so much of our energy is diverted to digest the food that we are getting energy from. It’s a roundabout process. Raw food cuts out the work of digestion and leaves the energy to flow to other parts of the body, most notably the brain. You get a real buzz from the raw diet and creativity levels soar.

Here is good Rob’s raw food site, with excellent information on all things raw and juice:

http://www.squidoo.com/raw-food-today#module154034673

I know Rob is a big fan of Matthew Armstrong, so I checked out his stuff. He is certainly an active chap with bags of energy:

This clip goes some way to dispelling the theory that raw foodists suffer from a lack of energy!

We will be keeping a daily (I hope) blog on the Beach House Kitchen about all of our antics, struggles and successes. I hope you join us for the ride.

Categories: Detox, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Juices, Raw Food, Smoothies, Vegan | Tags: dairy free, food, health, healthy living, healthy-living, juice, juices, Low carbs, matthew armstrong, no carbs, nutrition, raw, raw food, raw juices, raw smoothies, smoothie, vegan, vegetarian, worlds healthiest diet | 3 Comments

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

Holiday Photos – The B.H.K hits Spain

Posted on March 28, 2012 by leroy watson

Jane walking in the forests of the Espunas. 12oC, sandals and snow.

Viva Naranja!

Under an old olive tree. La Santa Monastery

View from the terrace of Antipodas Restaurant, La Azhoia (with the bar mascot)

Our local goats cheese platter.

Jane in the Monastery Square, La Santa

Sunset over the Port of Mazzarron

Gorgeous local Raf tomatoes. Sweet, sweet, sweet...

Hello Beach House Folk,

So this is where we’ve been, doing what we do best, going on holiday! Hopefully this explains the lack of Beach House Kitchen action recently.

We visited Murcia, the Costa Calida, a magical place. We have done all our ‘foodie’ friends proud by eating and drinking in brilliant ways and of course taking it very easy. Que Vida Espana!

The produce in Murcia, known as the garden of Spain, is exceptional and some of our favourite times were spent in the markets practising the lingo and meeting the farmers. Buying fresh dates, figs, almonds, amazing vegetables (peppers, aubergines, artichokes), olives, lemons……….etcetc. The list goes on and on here. The earth seems very arid in the whole area, but a little sun goes a long way!

We are going fully Raw in June, we met some amazing so we need some help planing for that. Whats your favourite salad/ juice/ smoothie? We met some guys in Spain who really inspired us in this respect, very shiny people, cheers Rob and LindaX

We will be back to full throttle soon-ish. Watch this space…….

Peace and Happiness,

Lee and JaneX

Categories: 'The Good Life', Healthy Living, photography, Raw Food, Travel | Tags: goats cheese, healthy living, holiday, photography, raf tomatoes, raw, raw food, spain, spanish food, the good life, travel | Leave a comment

Liver Detox – ‘The Flush’

Posted on February 6, 2012 by leroy watson

Medicine

This is more food as medicine, as opposed to tasty biscuits. Read no further if you’re looking for a cake recipe! This is definately not delicious in that way.

It’s probably a little late now, after the time of festive excess, this recipe would have been perfect. Still ‘The Flush’ is a magic little potion handed to us by Jackie a lovely local nutritionist and colonic therapist.

It will stimulate your liver into detox mode and get rid of some built up toxins etc. It also gets bags of raw garlic into your system (see Foodie fact). It is a real help for people suffering from Candida and other intestinal imbalances. If you feel like you need a full detox, you will need to get on a proper course of treatment with a qualified nutritionist and maybe have a colonic or two! Extreme flushing.

‘The Flush’ should be taken on an empty stomach, preferably first thing in the morning. You may eat fruit afterwards (tomatoes, cucumber, avocado) but no other solids for five hours. It’s busy working on the digestive system. Drinking several cups of detox, ginger, fennel or peppermint tea will help this.

We tried this for a while and found it made you feel well flushed and invigorated afterwards.

The Bits

1 glass of organic apple juice, 1 peeled lemon with pith still on, 1 tbs (work up to 4) cold pressed olive oil, 1 pinch cayenne, 1 pinch cinnamon, 1 (work up to 3) cloves of raw garlic, thumb size piece of ginger root

Do It

Pop it all in a blender until smooth. Each day work up to the max. amounts of olive oil and garlic, depending on your progress (and what your belly is telling you). It’s best to do this for a week and then take one week off. Then repeat this cycle if you’re cleansing your liver for the first time.

You can build up to doing this every morning for six weeks. If so, not only do you deserve a massive pat on the back, but your liver and digestive system will thank you in their own special way.

We Love It

It will give you a greater sense of well-being and give your hard-working liver a break.

The garlic will pack a punch and probably leave your breath quite fragrant, but who cares, its good for you.

Foodie Fact

Packed with phyto-chemicals that help against c*****r, heart disease and infections. Humans have always love garlic for its flavour and medicinal values.

When garlic is crushed, allcin is formed, which actively reduces cholesterol and keeps you coronary bits nice and clean. It also has anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties.

I could go on here……but lastly it’s one of the richest sources of potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, the list goes on.

Forget about garlic breath, get it down you!!!!!!!

Have you tried Elephant garlic? Beastly!

PS – We are not in any way qualified to offer any medical advice whatsoever.

Categories: Breakfast, Detox, Healthy Living, Nutrition, Raw Food, Recipes | Tags: breakfast, cholesterol, cleanse, detox, garlic, gluten-free, healthy living, high nutrients, nutrition, raw, raw garlic, recipes, Super Foods, vegan, vegetarian | Leave a comment

Ensalada de Kami – Coconut and Peanut Salad

Posted on January 27, 2012 by leroy watson

Ensalade de Kami

This salad will shine all over the mid January slump. Peanuts for energy and coconuts to remind you that Pina Coladas do still exist.

It comes straight from Panamanian jungle, via Jane’s lovely friend Kami. Jane popped over to see Kami for a couple of weeks recently and came back all shiny and radiant, all down to Kami’s raw food and salads.

The fruits aren’t quite as good as Panama in North Wales, but we have continued the trend and I must say that a day started with this salad is a brighter place to be!

Lovely and crunchy, an interesting mix of veggies and fruit, with a smooth peanut and coconut sauce, its tastes amazing and will get your system buzzing first thing.

This is a versatile little number, you can also use it as a conventional salad for lunch or dinner. We make a job lot in the morning and it keeps us going until late, sometimes making two days dressing in advance (saves on washing up!).

This is most definitely a Beach House favourite.

Makes two big bowls.

The Bits

We tend to use what we have fruit and veg wise, it can change daily, but here’s an idea.

1 orange, 1 apples, 1 pear, 2 large carrots, 1 stick of celery, chunk of cucumber, bit of exotic fruit as a treat(we used a bit of pineapple today, or papaya, mango etc..) all diced into pleasant shapes of your liking.

For the sauce – 3 tbsp coconut milk, 2 tbsp organic peanut butter, 1 orange, pith off and chopped, 1 apple, 1 large carrot, both chopped, dash of water (to get it going)

Treat version – Sometimes some chopped walnuts, or finely diced dates (not too many).

Do It

Easy as pie…….

Chop up the fruit and veg.

Add all the sauce bits to a blender and pulse up, leave it a little chunky if you like.

Pour over salad and mix in.

Serve

We put it into our finest big bowl and enjoy looking at it all day. I sometimes add a little muesli and yoghurt, or roasted sunflower seeds add even more crunch and energy.

Makes a great side dish to a slightly exotic main course, Thai or Indian food for example.

We Love It

The odd sweet burst of a date and the all over fresh crunchiness and vitality.

Foodie Fact

We stay clear of bananas with this one, sugary fruit and acidic fruit ferments in your belly, which is bad for people with sensitive stomachs.

In Ayurveda, fruit is meant to be eaten before a meal, never after or with, as it putrifies (nice word) in the stomach. Sugary fruits also react with cereals, but sometimes, I live dangerously!

Thanks Kami

Categories: Breakfast, gluten-free, Lunch, Raw Food, Recipes, Salads, Snacks and Inbetweens, Vegan | Tags: B.H.K Favourite, breakfast, celiac, food, fruit, gluten-free, good fats, good sugars, Kami's, Low carbs, raw, recipes, salads, vegetarian | 3 Comments

Super Spinach Smoothie

Posted on January 26, 2012 by leroy watson

A shot of pure green goodness

This smoothie will kick any day off with a natural sugar hit and good dosing of iron to wake you up and feed your sleepy body. Sweet and smooth with an iron fix.

It is so simple and quick to make and is Janes favourite morning booster. You won’t be craving biscuits for elevensies either, the banana will see you through!

The Bits

1 1/2 bananas per person (ideally, I have two because I’m like a sloth in the morning)

2 tbsp coconut cream

Two good handfuls of spinach

A splash of water (to get it all blended nicely)

Need balast? Add a handful of oats.

Do it

Stick it all in your blender and whizz until smooth.

Serve

Jane eats it from a bowl with a spoon, topped with some finely sliced veggies, celery is nice. I glug from a glass, which is scrapped out after with a spoon.

We Love It

Its so easy and nutritious and its very green!

Foodie Fact

Spinach is famous as a good source of iron, but surprisingly not as good as much as most beans, lentils, nuts and seeds. Even a dried apricot has more iron!.

Bananas are packed with natural fruit sugar (frustose), the highest of any fruit by a jungle mile. This is still relatively low compared to most maufactured sweet foods. They are great for the digestive system, with lots of fibre and also rich in Vitamin C and Potassium.