The Raw Food Pyramid – Colourful & Healthful
Back in 2012, we moved to a really lovely house in Surrey, South West of London. At the very bottom of our new home’s garden, was a little section of wilderness. We had a vision that one day we would convert it into a permaculture garden, creating an environment where we could essentially live off the land. It was a dream we had, and unfortunately, that dream didn’t come true! Why? Because in 2016 we moved to Sydney, Australia. That little piece of wilderness remained.. Yes, we had made some progress on it by the time we moved, but nothing close to the permaculture vision we had envisioned.
Ironically, when we swapped our large home and garden in the UK for an apartment in North Sydney, we started making full use of the much more limited space of our kitchen, making sure that we had the best nutrients available at any given time.
Regardless of how busy your lifestyle is, it’s important to ensure that you’re giving yourself and your family the best nutrients possible, trying not to compromise that by buying processed, convenient food that is full of additives and devoid of the nutrients that your body needs. Rather than consuming ready-made food for the sake of convenience, a much better and cheaper option is to learn the skills you’ll need to create your own highly nutritious food. What I like to call, “creating a revolution in your kitchen”.
I’ve put together a list of 4 superfoods that are delicious, healthy, and convenient. Learn how to make them in the space of your own home and you can always keep some on tap for when you need it:
1. Create a Kombucha factory
Kombucha is a fermented tea which is fast becoming a mainstream fizzy drink because of the emerging research on the importance of the gut microbiome. We wrote a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to create your own Kombucha tea. Like all new things, you’ll have a bit of work upfront, but once you’re in the flow, you can look forward to bottles of delicious kombucha every week! Here’s how to make it: http://bit.ly/2kda6Qs
2. Build a guilt-free ice-cream factory:
This is very simple to make.. You’ll need:
• 6 bananas
• A box of berries (strawberries, blueberries or raspberries)
First, peel the bananas and cut them up into small pieces. Next, put them, together with the berries, into the freezer. Once frozen,,blend the ingredients in a powerful blender for a couple of minutes until it looks creamy.
Scoop into a bowl, or onto a cone and share it with your lucky family and friends. This is one ice-cream that you can have every single day to ensure your body gets the following:
• Vitamin C
• antioxidants
• fibre
• a range of micronutrients and flavonoids
Unlike shop-bought ice-cream, you don’t need preservatives or artificial ingredients. It’s also vegan / dairy free, soy free, gluten free, and contains no added sugars.
3. Your very own dried snacks factory
Dried fruits make a fantastic snack and they are nutritious too. A few years ago, an ex-colleague from Singapore came to visit and brought with her a packet of dried mangoes. After one taste, I was completely hooked and a few minutes later, the empty packet made its way into the bin. Unfortunately, the packet of dried mangoes, as delicious as they were, also contained 20gsm of added sugar. So, I decided to make my own.
It’s very simple. All you’ll need are some sliced-up mangos. Place the slices in a dehydrator and then wait for 24 hours, after which you’ll have the most delicious dried mango. Just remember, though, that dried fruit does contain a lot of natural sugar, and because of the absence of water, it can be easy to overeat! That said, it’s a much healthier alternative to processed sweets, lollies and candy. Be conscious of the fact that tropical dried fruit (mango, pineapple etc.) typically contains more sugar than any other type of fruit (see chart below from my book “Sugar: Sickly or Sweet”). Tip: You can use this drying method to make all kinds of dried plant foods – dried kale chips are my favourite!
4. Create your own sprouting garden
No matter which nutritional diet you’re following (high carb, low carb and everything in between), one thing that everyone agrees upon is that green leaves such as kale, spinach or whichever veg is in season, are nature’s medicine. So, take nature’s medicine every day. It’s such a gift, and an economical way of getting your daily greens is by growing sprouted broccoli in your kitchen. They’re very simple to grow. All you’ll need to do is buy a pack of broccoli seeds from a gardening or health food shop, soak overnight, then leave them in the jar to sprout, rinsing daily. Takes between 3-5 days. Here is an awesome step-by-step method I found on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/450500768969777738. Those tiny spouted seeds contain an incredible amount of nutrients. Tip: Pop them onto salads, into smoothies or eat them as they are.
So that’s it! 4 incredibly easy ways to bring immense nutrition into your kitchen and into your family’s bodies. Give yourself the gift of energy and be sure to give your family and friends that gift too. Energy leads to activity and it’s activity that leads to results.
