Raw Vegan Quick Soup

YO YO YO
What's up diggity dowgs?

I have been waiting so long to create my own raw vegan soup. It has been super cold here in Melbourne... well,  HOT COLD COLD HOT COLD...   so I've had to wait it out for the lovely soup ingredients I'm craving to come into season. (Iv'e been craving summer fruit and veg incase you're wondering!)
I went into my favourite organic fruit and veg store the other day and snapped up myself a massive bag of tomatoes for $3!!! Wahhooooooooo
I went straight home and created my very first summery raw vegan soup! It was very satisfying!

It does look like gloopey snot, but tastes AMAZING, great with 100% rye bread, or olive bread  and is best eaten the day you make it.... after a day in the fridge, it get's a bit weirdy in flavour,,, I actually thought it would get better in time, letting the flavours meld together... but NO!

WHAT YOU NEED
1 blenders worth of whole tomatoes
1/2 1 leek
2 lemons
1/2 avocado
small tin of organic coconut cream
1 tblsp miso paste
1 cup water
good dash of organic tamari
1 big clove of garlic
2-3 cups of mixed greens (I used parsley, kale, silverbeet, corriander)
1 rib of celery
1 tsp raw sea salt (or good pinch of himalayan pink salt)

WHAT YOU DO
Ahead of time- at least half an hour, finely slice the leek and garlic and cover with juice of the lemon and a small drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Wash and roughly chop all your veg.
Place all the tomatoes in the blender with the salt and blitz.
Pour half mixture into a big beautiful soup pot.
Place the miso paste and water in a small bowl and mix until well incorperated.
Place all remaining ingredients into the blender, blitz really well, then pour into your soup pot and mix well with the tomatoes.

** I added some pre cooked french lentils, omitt these or sprout them if you want to remain exclusively raw.

Garnish with a drizzle of EVOO and some nasturtium!
 
ENJOY  XXX

Blood orange super smoothie for these crazy and brilliant times

It's FINALLY spring here in Melbourne!!! OMG yay- I am actually relieved.
My body has been craving tangelo's, oranges, berries, smoothies, fresh fresh fresh things!!
This was an AMAZING breakfast smoothie that filled me up, kept me feeling light and kept me going till lunch (well SUPER late lunch because I was filming!!).
If you have small kids- this is a GREAT smoothie that they will LOVE! It's packed with antioxidants, vitamin c, protein, potassium etc etc it's just super great and will leave you feeling amazing!

I've been SUPER DUPER busy with life and filming etc.... as we all are. It always feels like around this time of year, everything goes into super charge, with so much more to do and accomplish...
Make sure you don't burn yourself out during these crazy and brilliant times ahead (plus the planets are doing some freaky deaky shit, which is giving the lovely life on Earth a massive shake up!!! GO WITH IT! change is here, with more to come-- struggle is futile!!  anyway, that's a whole other blog right there!!!)

Best thing to do is meditate, love, move your body and feed yourself with clean wholesome foods!!!  I must admit, lately, I've been consuming 1-3 smoothies a day to help me cope with non stop doing-- THIS IS WHAT MY BODY HAS BEEN ASKING FOR!!! Don't worry, I have been eating other things too!!! My body just works a heap better when I'm out and about, chugging down a smoothie from my jar.
It's important to mix up the ingredients of your smoothies it your eating a lot of them.... it's all about nutrients and variety!
I then come home and enjoy a really nice cooked meal, think green veggies, dark wild rice, seaweed, coconut oil, tammari, avo etc etc or a simple pasta with HEAPS of herbs, tomato paste and coconut oil mmmmmmmm- these dishes are SUPER QUICK TOO!!    

Anyway, I wanted to share this particular smoothie recipe with you because I felt so good after it and the taste made do a little dance while I was eating it!!

WHAT YOU NEED
1 cup mixed frozen berries
1/2 frozen banana
1 small orange
1 cup liquid (I used 1/2 coconut water,  homemade 1/2 almond milk)
1 blood orange
1 tblsp hemp seeds
1 tblsp chia seeds
handful of any greens (I used rocket/arugula)
fresh herbs to garnish (I used apple mint)

WHAT YOU DO
Wash fruit and veg, peel orange peel and chuck everything excluding blood orange and herbs into a blender- blitz, serve then garnish!!
*Feel free to add ANY other fruit or veg... it will all be good!

X

Introducing... SOAP NUTS! Yes, Mother Earth's soap that GROWS ON TREES!

AWESOME NEW DISCOVERY!!!

Yep, Mother Earth thought of EVERYTHING when she was getting ready to sustain herself solo. Not only did she create an air filtration system and spounge for pollution (thankyou trees and HUMUS- incredible compost), give us plant foods, water and medicinal weeds, BUT she ALSO made us SOAP!!! yes- soap! And it literally grows on trees!!!

Welcome Soap Nut!

Soap Nuts can be used in both top and bottom loader washing machines for your clothes, they can be used in your dishwasher, or if old fashioned- in the sink for your dishes, AND you can also create liquid soap from the nuts as a general house cleaner, glass cleaner, shampoo, body wash, pest repellant or car wash!!! WWHHHHHHAAATT!!!! Amazing!
Each nut can be re used up to about 6 times, then when they're done- YOU CAN COMPOST THEM!!! Holy shit balls!!

So to recap:
Detergent that grows on trees.
All natural.
Self lathering.
Reusable.
Cheap.
Effective cleansing properties.
Safe & gentle.
Compostable at the end of a long and productive life.
Awesome!

I ordered mine online from www.soapnuts.co.nz - Then I recieved a cutie 50gm pouch of SOAPBERRIES, also known as Washing Nut or Wash Berry, arrives in the letterbox!!

Soap Nuts have a slightly tacky surface due to the natural saponin that coats them. Once they come into contact with water, they create mild suds similar to soap. This soapy substance has remarkable detergent properties, removing dirt and dissolving oils from clothes and other surfaces as good as any supermarket cleaner.

Soap Nuts have been used in India and Nepal for hundreds of years. A lot of people that swear by them, particularly those with sensitive skin, eczema and contact dermatitis from household products!
Plus, they're cheaper than toxic comercial detergents.
At $5.50 for a bag that will last up to 20 wash cycles. 1kg of soapnuts shells can be used for up to 365 loads of laundry - if you do 1 load a day that's 12 cents per load, and cheaper than most other detergents. 

HELLO!!!

Get on board and grab yourself some SOAPBERRIES

yyaaaaayy

X

Ideas for using up a glut of fruit x

When shop, I'm always looking for amazing organic food- and a bargain. This can somethimes be a very hard thing, but I do it!
My organic grocer- and most grocers I've been to, usually bag up a heap of fruit and veg just before it's about to spoil- even as it's spoiling, and they sell it for SUPER cheap! YAAY!!

BUT, then you're stuck with a HEAP of fruit and veg that's about to go off........... like in the next day or two.. WHAT TO DO!?

VEG:
* make MEGA veg juices and top up your body for the day
* chuck into your blender with a few herbs and a bit of coconut water, or nut milk, blend then pour into a ice cube tray and freeze for the moments when you've run out of greens for a smoothie.
* you could even juice and freeze in an ice block tray for the same occasions, or if it's hot and you want a take away juice for the day..... it's will be chilled and ready to drink when you're ready to drink!
* make some awesome, weird and experimental cocktails or mocktails!!

FRUIT:
* Pretty everything I just wrote for the veggies.
* chuck the fruit in whole or chopped for future snacks, ice'cream' and smoothies. (for example, at this point in time, I have a massive bag of kiwi fruit, bananas and some mixed berries hanging out in my freezer! mmmmm Mangoes are another goodie!

USE EVERYTHING! NO WASTE
And if the produce is actually rotten..... COMPOST!!!!! yay to the planet!

Here's a bit of inspiration for using up a HEAP of apples....

I choped up half the apples and popped into my blender with a HEAP of fresh mint, then I juiced the remaining apples with some ginger and a tangello! YUM
Then I poured the juice into the blender and blitzed.
After pouring mix into ice cube trays, I studded them with frozen mixed berries!

FREEZE then eat as icy poles, chuck in smoothies, plop on top of muesli or use as iceblocks for a veggie juice, cocktail/mocktail etc.  

YAY and YUM!

X

saving the world with compost!!!!! hello HUMUS

When I was a kid, I watched Captian Planet....... Who else wanted to be a planeteer? I know I did!!  Still do really...... how cool would it be, to be a real super hero/human!  Did you know... YOU CAN!!!
I'm so getting my super hero planeteer boots on, getting my earth, fire, heart, air and water rings, chucking them together to create--- not captian planet, but a super cool composting business!!!!

Yep, you heard right! might soud lameo- BUT WE CAN SAVE THE PLANET WITH COMPOST!!! think worms, food scraps, paper, hair, garden scraps.......... we can be the real captian planet in the name of HUMUS. (hu-mus)

WHAT IS HUMUS?
Well, Humus is a brown or black organic substance consisting of partially or wholly decayed vegetable or animal matter that provides nutrients for plants and increases the ability of soil to retain water. AKA- super duper compost!

Composting has huge benefits for the earth and us humans.

WHERE EARTH IS TODAY:
Through chemical agriculture, humans have been rapidly depleting our mamma earths soil. Humus (the top layer of dark nutrient rich soil) has been depleted by almost 2/3 across the globe. Most of us are unaware that the Humus layer (soil) is the largest “sink” for carbon storage. Because we have depleted the humus layer, the carbon that was once there has been forced into the atmosphere and is causing the greenhouse effect and being absorbed by the oceans (causing massive acidification of the oceans).

WHAT THE PLANETEERS CAN DO:
By composting, we are directly affecting this process, every bit of compost that returns to the soil helps jumpstart the living matrix the Humus layer is supposed to be!!!! As the humus layer grows, the carbon is brought back into the soil (Carbon sequestering).  One step closer to reversing the terrible state we have the planet in right now! SO IMPORTANT AND EASY!!!

Composting to rebuild the humus layer in our veggie patches makes our food much more nutrient dense, therefore we have better health! This explains why an organic strawberry tastes better then a conventional one. Because of the soil the food was grown in is filled with nutrients and the other is mostly water and a bit of chemical fertilizers.
Soil health = Planet health and Human health.
Makes a lot of sense..... start composting lovers!
For those who have no idea how to compost, or dont have a garden- this is where I step in to help with my awesome up and coming super hero composting business!!!
If you live in Melbourne, all you'll need to do is collect food scrpas, then I'll take it and compost it!!
Pretty cool hey!
That's just the beginning too!
I'll have a HEAP of other wonderful earth saving things availible when my business begins- but more of that later!!!

WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW?
Buy a plastic compost bin and place it in an outside area that is close to a garden that will need nutrient rich soil (herb/veggie patch/flower bed or even your front lawn!)
Collect your vegetable, fruit, bread and grains scraps during the week. As well as your yard waste (sticks/twigs/grass clippings/debris) and place them in layered fashion (begin with some garden waste then layer with food waste then garden over the top as so on. This keeps the smell clean and almost non-existent and allows a good composition for the compost to breakdown. Turn your compost ever few weeks.
Use this nutrient rich soil in your garden once it has broken down.  
If you dont have a garden- get in contact with family and friends and get them involved too- share the love, compost and food scraps all in the name of planet earth!!

Here's an AWESOME TED talk all about Humus. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q1VnwcpW7E

Watch and SHARE the love xxxxx

My super Heart Chakra GREEN smoothie x

I've been doing an online course over the past couple of months which is all about chakric health, mindfulness and white light healthing- It's been SUPER AWESOME and so incredible educational and beneficial in helping me in my journey and connecting in with myself and my energy centres- FASCINATING!!!

Today is the first day of two weeks, working on focusing on the heart chakra!
"love is a many splender thing"
"love lifts us up where we belong"
"all you need is love"

OH YEAH

At yoga on Sunday, the gorgeous instructor told us about love and connecting in- it's the theme we're focusing in on this month- convienient!!!
Plus I've got a few super love projects going on in my life at the moment!!
I've been reading a heap of wonderful things all related to love- self love- gratitude- we are love- ETC!!!
(if you want a great and far out read- get your hands on Shealla Dreaming writen by Simone M. Matthews)

After todays lecture on the heart chakra, I was filled with inspiration! I wanted to buy beautiful healers chocolate immediately- just for love!!
I was also inspired to create a mega green smoothie, dedicated to the heart chakra.
The heart chakra vibrates at the color green- what better way to celebrate it's beauty than a green smoothie!! I wanted ALL ingredients to be green- although a few sneeky inca berries and walnuts made it in! *plus some additional raw vegan choc to garnish- after I took the photo!! All in the name of love!!

MY SUPER HEART CHAKRA GREEN SMOOTHIE

WHAT YOU NEED
2-3 green apples (I used 3 small ones)
1 lime
1-2 cups mixed greens (I used kale, parsley and silverbeet)
1/4 cup inca berries
1 cup coconut water
*topping: hemp seeds, mixed herbs, walnuts and chocolate!!!

WHAT YOU DO
Wash and chop fruit and veg. Pop evrything into into the blender and blitz.
Pour into a bowl and scatter with your topping!

EAT AND LOVE LOVE LOVE.

X

Incredible health benefits of Passion Fruit x

Last Friday I was heading to rehearsal of a short film I'll be filming very soon. On my way- of coarse I had to stop into Terra Madre (a.k.a The Fruit Peddlers- my local organic food store). I just needed a couple of things, but as always I bought a bag of things- One of which was a jumbo bright yellow passion fruit! Since I'd never seen one before and of course because I love passion fruit SO much- I grabbed it straight away! I'd heard of Panama passion fruit before- and jave enjoyed eating them- but the GOLD Panama Passion Fruit was a new descovery for me! FUN!!

Whats so good about Passion fruit you might ask? LISTEN UP!

Passion fruit is high in soluble fiber:   

Not only does fiber help in weight-loss but it also helps ward off the potential threat of many diseases. The fiber found in fruits also helps to slow the entrance of glucose in the bloodstream and also helps to further lower cholesterol levels.

Passion Fruit is high in Vitamins: Passion fruit is especially high vitamin A, C, B2, B3, B6 and folate. Passion fruit is particularly high in vitamin A, very important in helping you maintain a healthy immune system, healthy eyes, skin, teeth and bones.

Passion Fruit is high in Minerals: Including iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and copper. Potassium is an essential mineral and electrolyte. Potassium helps the body maintain its water and acid balance. Awesome

I AMAZINGLY saved my passion fruit for breakfast the next day! O. M. G!

SOOOOOOOOOO crazy good!

I had some mixed berries, avocado, chia seeds and of corse my passionfruit with a side of my fresh homemade almond milk!!!!! mmmmmmmmmm

GREAT start to the day, which lead to brilliant things- toiling in the veggie garden, taking a hike at the 1000 step Kakoda trail Memorial walk- then a wonderful family dinner at my folkes!! YAAY

XXXX