I have not written a blog post for a while. I decided, as I rapidly approach my 40th birthday, to take a moment and assess… everything. My life, my work, my cooking and my own state of health. I love what I have been doing in the last year. Cooking and writing and developing new recipes has given me joy beyond anything I ever thought possible. When something is that right, it just resonates through everything, you know?
Also, the events rapidly unfolding in the rest of the world meant that writing about the usual delectable and decadent meals that I prepare … well, there would just be something not quite right in that. What has happened to Japan is so overwhelming and horrific that it seems important to just take a moment and focus on what is really valuable and precious in our lives. I am so thankful to be surrounded by so much love every day. And I send some of that love and light and healing to the people of Japan, my friends and family there, as they struggle to deal with a world so terribly out of balance.
And in my own small life… there is nothing like a looming deadline to make one decide that it is necessary to just … pause. Take a moment. Step back and breathe. So I went on a juice fast last week – 5 days of freshly made juices, and nothing else. I thought it was going to be difficult, but it was so easy. And my body thanked me for it. For that moment of just being able to be. It was nice to nurture myself in a way that was healthy.
Juice fasts, though they sound radical, are actually not that difficult. You need to ensure a number of things. First of all, ensure you are hydrated. I drank, on average, about 1 – 1.5 litres of water a day, with fresh lemon squeezed into it. Second, ensure you are getting proper nutrients. I drank about 600 ml of fresh squeezed juice, three times a day, with a wild mix of different fruits and vegetables. To this mix, at every meal, I added 2 tablespoons of powdered psyllium husks (which filled the stomache, and took care of any hunger), 2 tablespoons of powdered wheat grass (which added huge amounts of pure vitamins and proteins), 2 tablespoons of Udo’s oil and 2 probiotic tablets.
Some of the juice combinations I made included:
- 1/2 pineapple, 1 cup raspberries, 1/2 cup of blueberries
- 1 green apple, 1 carrot, 1 thumbnail sized ginger, 1 medium beetroot, 1 cup spinach leaves
- 1 Fuji apple, 1 green apple, 3 oranges, 6 – 8 passion fruit
After a few days, the body has a natural detoxification response, but by the fourth day, you feel … amazing. Clean and focused, healthy and re-energised. I realised a number of things that I hope to change or tweak just a bit.
- I dont drink enough water. This is a big change I hope to make in my life – just be hydrated on a regular basis. And be thankful I live in a place where I have clean and plentiful water at my disposal.
- I dont have enough raw foods in my current diet. Truffles are fine (theyre wonderful in fact) but sometimes, the body really craves raw, unprocessed, uncooked fruits and vegetables. Salads are fantastic, but so is pure, unadulterated juice. There is something deeply comforting about such a deep infusion of clean, easily digestible nutrients. I am going to do at least one day a week where all I consume is juice.
- I need to have a bit of balance on this blog. As much as I love my decadence, I am going to try and include recipes that wont overload your butter and cream quotient (for the week!) … and yet which are satisfying and toothsome.
- Sometimes in life, you just need to pause. I am going to make sure I incorporate those pauses in the patterns of my life. Pausing is good. It makes me happy.
So I will be back, in the next few days, with more recipes. I have yet to post the chocolate chili mousse, and I am developing a white chocolate baked truffle. I also hope to make some fresh angel hair pasta soon. So stay tuned, and thank you for your patience!
delectable 