Thursday 19 June 2014

Warm Spring Greens salad

Posting food on Facebook was how come I started this blog. People wanted recipes and inspiration.
I've been inspired by being sent a fruit and veg box from Able & Cole every week. If I can't find a recipe that takes my fancy in the book they give you, I usually find my inspiration somewhere else online.
It's a lovely thing when you can inspire people, and I'm always being inspired by so much around me, and I'm glad that I can share it.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my Facebook friends sent me a message. It seemed like she was at the end of her tether when it came to her son's behaviour. He had been diagnosed with ADHD and the doctors offered for him to take medication to 'help' his condition.
I'm not a doctor, nor a trained nutritionist, but I do have a lot of common sense and I knew, as my friend did, that her son's hyperactive behaviour could be down to his diet.
On the outset it seemed like he had a reasonably healthy diet, but when you look deeper, you uncover so much sugar and chemicals in food that aren't visible to the general public.

My parents did an experiment on my nephew a couple of years ago. He was diagnosed with ADHD and took medication to 'help' him. I saw him when he took it and he was dull and boring and very quiet. My nephew is a Gemini and naturally has a lot of energy. His parents don't give him the best diet, and he has admitted to "sneaking" coca cola and fizzy drinks out of the fridge when no one is looking.
My nephew went to stay with my parents for 3 weeks at their home in Spain. They didn't remind him to take his medication and to start with, he was really quiet as he was taking his medication,  but then stopped after a few days. He ate healthy good food and had a yoghurt for dessert and a treat once every two days, like an ice cream.
After 3 weeks, he had lost his podginess, showed his real, naturally energetic personality, but burned off a lot of energy from playing and swimming.
Two years on, he is back to his old ways, over weight and eating a lot of sugar, and no doubt about it being very hyperactive, or not, if he is taking his medication.

When someone comes to be for advise, more than likely they don't take it, so I was surprised when my friend did take my advice.
Swapping foods for Organic, fresh foods and drinks doesn't have to be hard, you just have to take your time and read the labels. Supermarkets don't care what you buy, as long as you buy a lot of it. The good thing now is that so many good alternatives are available.

Here are a few bad products that you can swap for good ones.

 Robinson's has the chemical Aspartame in it. It's banned in the USA, but I don't know why they don't ban it here. It's toxic and giving this colourful juice to kids is just asking for trouble. The alternative is Bottle Green or Organic Rocks. You usually find all the good squash bunched together on the shelves.
 Innocent is not innocent at all, especially the smoothies. It's full of added sugar and chemicals. Go for Coconut water or juices that have a shorter shelf life, but have no added sugars. Any sugar you have in a drink should come from the fruit. Read the ingredients!
 Cheerios 'delicious wholegrain'. Full of sugar!! If you want to eat a cereal and are OK with wheat, go for Shredded wheat. It has nothing else in it but wheat, and that's it.
 Snacks aren't too difficult. The digestive snacks were down the Confectionery isle, and the Jungle paws were down the baby food isle. You just have to learn where to find things. Jungle paws are rolled dried fruit and deliciously lovely for a snack with absolutely no added sugars or chemicals.
 Jam is full of sugar and preservatives. If you're going to eat it, make your own. If not, peanut butter or Almond or Cashew butter are a high protein alternative.
There is an advert on TV at the moment that makes me mad. It's for Nutella an boasts that it has protein in it. Yes it does, but the sugar and chemicals out weigh the protein. Another ugly product is this Milky way spread. In each 15gram serving has 8gram of sugar. The packaging is an easy squeeze tube, easy enough for kids to make their own portions themselves.

When you go shopping in the supermarket, just take a little extra time and look at the packaging, and read the labels. There are some things we have to buy out of a packet. To be on the safe side of all these added sugars and chemicals, eat and drink fresh.

This week's recipe is a lovely Asian infused Warm spring green salad.

Spring greens are pretty bland, but when you jazz them up and add some nice flavours, they are really nice. This salad is nice warm or cold.

Ingredients:

Spring Greens - sliced thinly
Carrots - Grated
Spring onions - sliced
Ginger - Grated
Chili pepper - sliced
Pepper to taste
Coconut oil

Method:

Melt coconut oil in a pan and add the spring greens and keep turning so that they change to a darker green colour and cook right through. Add the grated carrots, spring onions, chili and ginger. Season with pepper if you wish, then once everything is warm all the way through, serve immediately.

 Serve on it's own, or like I did last week, I had a piece of salmon, regular leaf salad with cucumber, tomatoes and peppers and home made coleslaw. See the quick recipe below, especially for Gary Ward who asked me about it yesterday.


Coleslaw Recipe:

Ingredients:
1/4 White cabbage
1/4 Red Cabbage
3 Carrots
1 Red onion
Pepper to taste
2 dollops of Mayonnaise

Method:

For best results chop everything in a food processor. Place it all in a large bowl. Add the pepper and Mayonnaise and use your hands to make sure all the ingredients are covered with Mayonnaise.
It's messy, but its the best way to make sure its all even.
Serve in a bowl or keep in a container in the fridge. It keeps well for up to a week, but if you're anything like us, it doesn't hang around for long.

Someone said to me yesterday that Mayonnaise isn't healthy. When you have so many veggies in a bowl with a smaller ratio of Mayonnaise, it's not that unhealthy.

Enjoy!

Jolie x