I never thought I’d see the day when I actually craved spirulina, but I guess it’s here! I ran out of spirulina two days ago and I miss it terribly. I’m in the habit of adding a heaped tablespoon to my green juice or smoothie every day and although I haven’t learned to love the flavor my body must love the effects because I really do miss it terribly.
Problem is, how do you make spirulina taste good enough to get down? I have a friend who mixes hers with a big glass of apple or orange juice and drinks it through a giant McDonalds straw with her nose blocked. It’s a true story, I’ve seen her do it. She really hates the taste a lot, obviously. But instead of torturing myself, I’d rather try to at least make it taste okay.
I’ve heard that mixing spirulina with bananas, pineapple juice or oranges masks most of the flavor. I’ve experimented a little with banana and fresh young coconut milk but found the spirulina made the taste of a really yummy banana-coconut smoothie a bit yuck. So I’d rather create something that compliments the spirulina rather than just tries to mask it.
So here are my recipes that I use every day to make it at least a little bit enjoyable-
This article may annoy you. I say this because I’m going to be talking about both sides of cacao – which means the bad side too.
It was interesting in my research to find very strong arguments both for and against cacao. Some writers were even quite bitter and aggressive towards the opposing side of their belief.
In the beginning I was fully prepared to belittle cacao and be one of those bitter and aggressive people. From the small amount of research I’d already done, cacao wasn’t looking too good and I was convinced the physical and energetic symptoms I’d been experiencing were entirely due to cacao. But the more I researched both sides of the argument the more I realized that cacao is a wonderful, beautiful medicinal food that needs to be treated with great respect. But it’s also a food that I’ve chosen to in future consume only very sparingly. And this article will explain why.
What’s the “problem” with cacao?
The problem isn’t really cacao. The problem is mainly to do with the Theobromine found in cacao. Sure cacao also contains mycotoxins, oxalic acid and cannabinoids which have their problems too, but the majority of the complaints about cacao seem to be pointing towards the Theobromine content.
The thing is, cacao is absolutely amazing, and I agree with David Wolfe that it truly is a “superfood”. It’s packed full of goodness including extraordinary high levels of magnesium, chromium and iron in addition to having one of the highest levels of antioxidants in any food source – only third to cloves and chaga mushroom that I’m aware of.
And a lot of research has also been done on cacao which has really helped the superfood stand out as one of the most amazing medicinal food sources on the planet. David Wolfe in particular has videos and articles all over the web which discuss the range of healing benefits found in cacao which are worth a read or a watch, just do a simple Google search.
But of course if you’re a chocolate lover then you already knew all of this. So let’s get into some of the information on the “bad” side of cacao which is perhaps the information that you didn’t actually know. Continue reading →
Carob is my new best friend! I’ve given up cacao for a while so I spent some time today experimenting with carob. And I just happened to make some magic this morning in the kitchen.
Raw Cashew Nut Carob Cookies
3/4 cup cashew nuts
1 Tablespoon of cashew nut butter
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup carob
4 dates
1 Tablespoon of honey or maple syrup
a pinch of salt
Loving Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a food processor until well combined. It’s okay if the cashews are still a little chunky! If the mix is too dry, add more cashew butter or a little water but you don’t want it to be too wet either – you want the dough to be firm and sticky enough to mold into cookies. Shape dough into cookies shapes or roll into balls.
I recently wrote an article on the sweetener xylitol, which quite clearly stated that if you choose to consume xylitol then you need to look for a product that’s made with birch not corn. But I didn’t tell you why! And some of you have asked so I thought I’d better clarify why I made that statement.
Originally xylitol was quite expensive and always made from Birch trees. It wasn’t until companies in China decided to figure out how they could make a cheaper product that the cob of corn started to be used in place of Birch.
I’m not a big fan of corn. I’m sorry, but it’s just not that great and it’s absolutely not a health food. To begin with, if consuming any corn products it’s super important that the corn is organic. Of course all the food you eat is better organic, but with corn it’s even more important.
You see, a lot of the corn grown out there is genetically modified. This is hugely political so I’m not going to go into too much detail. Instead I encourage you to do your own research if you want to find out more. All you need to know for now is that corn has unfortunately had a history of being mucked around a little too much in laboratories instead of doing its own natural thing.
So if you eat xylitol made with corn, there’s the possibility that you’re eating a genetically modified product. Not good. You could contact the manufacturer of the xylitol product and verify with them that they have in fact used organic or at least non genetically modified corn. Hopefully they’ll know and hopefully they’ll tell the truth. Continue reading →
Paul Nison has been traveling around Australia doing a book tour for The Daylight Diet, which was great for me because I got to attend his lecture on Thursday night.
If you’re not family with Paul then check him out. He’s a veteran raw foodie and interestingly his spiritual nutrition influence is the bible! But don’t let that turn you off if you’re not Christian. You’ll likely find when you dig deep enough that many raw food advocates have some form of religious or spiritual influence. And I think that’s quite beautiful. More in the video!
I never thought I’d see the day when I actually craved spirulina, but I guess it’s here! I ran out of spirulina two days ago and I miss it terribly. I’m in the habit of adding a heaped tablespoon to my green juice or smoothie every day and although I haven’t learned to love the flavor my body must love the effects because I really do miss it terribly.
This article may annoy you. I say this because I’m going to be talking about both sides of cacao – which means the bad side too. 
I recently wrote an article on the sweetener xylitol, which quite clearly stated that if you choose to consume xylitol then you need to look for a product that’s made with birch not corn. But I didn’t tell you why! And some of you have asked so I thought I’d better clarify why I made that statement.
You see, a lot of the corn grown out there is genetically modified. This is hugely political so I’m not going to go into too much detail. Instead I encourage you to do your own research if you want to find out more. All you need to know for now is that corn has unfortunately had a history of being mucked around a little too much in laboratories instead of doing its own natural thing. 
