my shopping spree!

I have been wanting to get a couple of things for a long time. And I finally did!

1: water purifier

I was looking for something that can reduce the fluoride in the water. There are several methods for this purpose using a carbon filter retains natural energy and does not remove healthy minerals, unlike distilled water and reverse osmosis.
It removes impurities such as bacteria, chlorine, amoeba, suspended solids, organic pesticides, heavy metals and cysts. And it tastes better!

2:Vitamix

If you want the best blender. this is it! This high power blender does almost everything (well it doesn't clean your house but we are not talking about that, are we)
It makes tahini, nut butter, creamy raw cheesecake, soy milk, nut milk etc.etc
I made this beautiful almond cheese and so addicted now. I do love nut butter that you get too but I suppose those nuts have not been soaked beforehand and proberbly oxidised by the time it's on the shelf. that is the same with Tahini. So from now on I can make it myself!
I made almond milk too. Yesterday was a beautiful warm day so a glass of homemade blueberry smoothie with hidden cholera for my daughter after school and she enjoyed it very much. and she had a purple mastache afterwards.

thought

I suppose I can call myself a vegan now. I avoid any animal products whatsoever. However my family is different. My partner eats and has a desire to have so called average western diet and my daughter too likes to have seafood and dairy now and then ( proberbly she'd like to have more if I encouraged her) I don't think I have any right to tell other people how and what to eat. Even though I know the negative things about eating any animal products environmentaly, ethically and for the health reasons it is up to them to decide. it can be hard when it comes to my own family, especially my daughter, because It is natural to want the best thing for her and want her to share my view on things. But I am working on it. I had to learn that she is not me and she is old enough to make her own decisions (to some extent....).
Although I think vegan diet can be the most healthful diet you do need more care when it comes to nutrition. B vitamins especially B12 and ration of omega3 and 6.
There are lots of fake cheeses and meats etc now. Even though it is good for some people who are just transitting to this diet (for their comfort reasons) I wouldn't feed that to my own daughter! I would rather she has a bit of rennet-free organic goat cheese (which is less mucus forming thatn cow cheeses) instead of commercially made cheese alternatives.

Are you a vegan and living with someone who eats meat? or vice versa? I would like to hear what you think....

ume extract

I think I have talked about acid and alkaline ration in the past. I am careful with what I eat but sometimes, I feel the body is out of balance. That could be a stress, pollution, or just plain run down from the hectic everyday living.
This is a product that is my rescue remedy for almost everything! Ume (japanese plum) is known for its alkalising effect. This extract is a concentrated extract made from hand picked plums grown in the Southern part of Kishu (Wakayama Prefecture), grated by an enamel grater, filtering the juice through a cotton cloth and obtaining the extract after carefully condensing it in an earthernware pot. This is 1kg of plums condensed into 20g, a sort of clump of plums,"mumefural" also containing citric acid, and beginning with calcium, also contains minerals such as iron, potassium and magnesium. it is extremely sour. You can dilute it with water and sweetner if you like or you can use for a dressing, sauces etc. I usually scoop a tiny bit out and just lick it off the spoon....

banana oatmeal cookie

It was my daugther's birthday and she wanted to take a treat to school to share with the class. For the occasion I made banana oatmeal cookie with raw coconut chocolate icing. Most of the vegan icing use margarine of some sort but I used raw coconut butter instead. You can also experiment with cocoa butter as well to give more depth to the chocolate flavour.

mesquite cookies

My daughter is always hungry. especially in the weekend. You will hear in her singing voice every 10 minutes "I'm hungry. I want to eat something!"
It is so easy to open a packet of pre-made snacks to give to a child. Even though I try to give her something healthy like crackers or rice cereal or pieces of vegetables, it is nice to say "ok let's make something to eat together"
We often make our own popcorn.
Yesterday we made a batch of mesquite crackers.
My daughter is older now that she can actually help and make the work easier. (Before it was sometimes easier and required less patience if I did it all myself!)

dry ingredients: wholemeal spelt flour, corn meal, mesquite powder, baking powder,grounded flax seed, salt, herbs
wet: rice milk, lemon juice, sesame oil

Rice milk and mesquite powder are naturally sweet so there is no need for an extra sugar.

A bit about the mesquite powder...
It contains good quantity of calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and zinc. It is quite high in protein (lyisine). The flavour is subtly sweet with a hint of caramel.

relationship between the diet and mind

I was talking to someone who has just started eating more in a macrobiotic way. She included brown rice in her diet and eating more wholesome foods. It was great to hear that she was feeling so much better not just physically but emotionally.
That is what the diet does to your mind.
Lots of people don't realise the connection. If you have lots of things in your food that burdens your organs it will affect your emotional health as well as your body.
For example If you consume overly refined sugar your pancreas, (where insulin is produced) kidney, (where the nutrients are triaged and glucose is stored) and adrenal glands are affected. the person is not getting any nutrients from the over processed food to compensate the extra work that the body has to do. The body may have to use more vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B, E and C from the body (if any left!) to deal with it. The deficiency in these vitamins can often result in anxiety and emotional problems.

baby carrots from the garden

My daughter was complaining about eating carrots lately. coming back from school with carrots left in her lunch box.
But not these baby carrots. She pulled them out herself and washed them with rain water outside, then eating them and wanting more.
It is what is all about, isn't it? Growing your own food is not only good for reducing your carbon footprint it is so much more convenient and taste so much better.
maybe , I thought, that is why kids are not eating much vegetables these days. The most have lost their real taste and not appealing to children's sensitive taste.

We also had bok choy from our garden for dinner tonight!