Category: Health

  • Stop believing your mind (read The Untethered Soul)

    Stop believing your mind (read The Untethered Soul)

    “There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind – you are the one who hears it.”
    ― Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

    Here’s a fun exercise: write down your thoughts for a day, or even a couple of hours. Then read out loud what you’ve written down.

    It will be a dreamlike, rather incomprehensive monologue or inner conversation, a collection of words and sentences pretty random, often contradictive and colored by emotion.

    If this were a real life professional you were consulting for guidance in your life, would you be happy with their service? If this was your friend talking, would you think they are sane?

    In his book The Untethered Soul, Michael Singer helps readers let go of the sense that they are their minds, or even that they should believe their thoughts all the time. Instead, he helps them find their sense of I somewhere deeper, in a place untainted by the turbulence of life.

    Reading this book has helped me and many friends live from love, not fear, even when things get busy, messy or tough. I always recommend it to people who suffer from an overactive mind or who notice they live in their heads much of the time.

    “Do not let anything that happens in life be important enough that you’re willing to close your heart over it.”
    ― Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

  • Raw tomato and bell pepper gazpacho

    Raw tomato and bell pepper gazpacho

    One delicious daily dose of veggies in a cup 🙂

    1 tomato
    1/2 bell pepper
    1 small garlic clove
    4 basil leaves
    1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
    1 sundried tomato
    1 date
    1 tablespoon of sunflower or pine seeds, or nuts
    Salt
    Extra virgin olive oil
    Lemon juice

    Simply blend everything together with about 1/3 the volume of water, add salt, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice to taste… enjoy!

  • Kale chips

    Kale chips

    If you have never tried these, please do! So simple and delicious. And healthy! Great for iron. Just go easy on the salt.

    Massage the kale with a few drops of vegetable oil, then spread the kale out in one layer on your oven rack lined with parchment paper.

    (It is very tempting to make loads of this healthy snack but you need to be sure not to ‘heap’ the kale; the water inside the leaf needs space to evaporate or it will only steam/cook.)

    Sprinkle with salt and bake for about 10 minutes at 180 degrees or until the sides start to brown. Be careful not to let them burn.

    You may choose to only use salt or play around with special flavorings like curry powder, garlic or pimento.

    I used pre-cut kale from a bag, which makes for really small chips. Better even would be to use fresh leaves and cut along the stem (or mid section) of the leaf to get bigger chips.

  • Simple vegetarian broccoli lasagne

    Simple vegetarian broccoli lasagne

    Honestly, when preparing this I forgot to add the vegetarian ‘minced meat’ and it was still delicious. Would also be great with mushrooms! Find your own, buy fresh or soak dried mushrooms from your stock.

    First, mix together ingredients for the sauce. I used tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, sambal (chili paste) and bruschetta mix (dried tomato, garlic and oregano). You might use a ready made tomato sauce (there are really good ones without additives, check the label) or make your own.

    Grease the bottom and sides of your oven dish with olive oil. Now add a first thin layer of tomato sauce at the bottom, then break small broccoli florets (no bigger than would fit a teaspoon) and distribute evenly in the sauce. Now add a layer of minced veg meat and cover with thinly sliced onion rings. Cover with a layer of sauce.

    Now take a sheet of lasagne pasta (I used whole-wheat), break it if necessary and use as much/many as you need to cover a full layer in the oven dish.

    Repeat the layering steps with a bit of sauce, broccoli, minced veg meat, onions, more sauce. Add another layer of pasta.

    Make the last layer with broccoli, onion and sauce. Top with grated cheese (I used Gouda).

    Put in the oven at 200 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with (rocket) salad, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

  • Tortellini carbonara with fresh parasol mushroom and zucchini

    Tortellini carbonara with fresh parasol mushroom and zucchini

    We found a beautiful bunch of parasol mushrooms (in Dutch: grote parasolzwammen) in a neighbor’s garden. She was super friendly and gave us one, after we explained how delicious they supposedly were – although we hadn’t tried before.

    (Btw: if it’s not the right season or foraging is not your thing: you could substitute the parasol with any other tasty mushroom. Just try to not choose champignons, they’re booooring ;).)

    Of course at home I first double checked that this really was a parasol mushroom, but really you can not really go wrong with this one.

    People have asked me but I will not explain on this blog; you’ll have to do your own research, find a trustworthy field guide and learn from an experienced forager before you can safely find and eat wild mushrooms.

    One tip: start with learning by heart which ones NOT to eat ;). Then proceed with the ones that are unmistakeable, the so called beginner’s mushrooms.

    So. I hope your worries have been addressed ;). This parasol mushroom turned out delicious! One of the best I have ever had, I may even like it over many porcini (eekhoorntjesbrood) I have had.

    Clean the mushroom (I rinsed it because there was a lot of earth/dirt), check that it is fresh and not contaminated by small animals. Cut a shallot or small onion and a garlic clove. Sauté in oil for a few minutes until light golden brown and fragrant, then add the zucchini and mushroom pieces plus pepper and salt (not too much!) to taste.

    Meanwhile, boil the tortellini as long as needed (see packaging).

    For the real carbonara: break an egg in a bowl and remove half of the egg white. Now beat the egg. Grate some cheese, Parmesan would be great but I used ripe (oude) Gouda cheese and that turned out really well, too.

    Drain the pasta as soon as it’s cooked al dente. Put back in the pan, add the egg, stir, then add in the cheese and some black pepper.

    Serve with the vegetables. I put them on top of the pasta. Italians would serve them separately, no doubt.

    Don’t forget the olive oil. Olive oil rocks, especially with mushrooms and pasta.

  • Popped chestnuts

    Popped chestnuts

    Great news! Autumn has come (in my part of the world) and that means it’s time for mushrooms and chestnuts. I love Autumn for its abundance in foods, colors and weather types ?. Plus it means my birthday is coming up. I heard autumn children suffer from winter depression less often and that fits my experience. I really appreciate all seasons equally.

    Now for the chestnuts ?: go find a beautiful spot for foraging, look out for the green spikey bolsters on the ground. Use your foot to roll them open so you can take them out by hand easily. You can easily bring home several kilos but be sure to leave at least as much for the animals and other people!

    At home, use a small, sharp knife to carve a cross in the skin. Then put in the oven at 220 degrees for about 25 minutes or so. It’s now easy to remove the skin and enjoy your yield. Best served warm!

    Pro tips for removing the skin:

    1. Use a teaspoon. Slide it under the skin (convex side up) and gently wiggle. Saves your nails :).

    2. The longer you hear the chestnuts, the dryer they become and the easier it will be to take them out of their skin. Find the middle way that is perfect for you (the above mentioned 25 minutes is a good start!)

  • Bliss balls with walnuts and honey

    Bliss balls with walnuts and honey

    An easy way to serve something special: bliss balls! These are nutrient rich, filling little snacks and they look wonderful.

    You can vary them endlessly. I happened to have pineapple juice and decided to boil that down to a syrup, but you could just as easily use honey, agave, rice syrup, apple juice etc. As long as it’s sweet and sticky it’ll do the job ?.

    Here’s the recipe for the ones I made today:

    Boil one cup of pineapple juice down to a syrup. Turn off the heat when the syrup is light golden; it is starting to caramelize.

    Add nut granola (crunchy muesli with nuts, leave big chunks out) and dried shredded coconut and mix well. Everything should be thickly coated with sticky stuff.

    Now part the whole bunch in halves and to one half add sesame seeds and to the other, add cacao. Bring to taste with salt if needed (I didn’t). Play with the ingredients (add dry or wet) so that you can form balls that stick together easily.

    Now roll the chocolate balls in coconut and the sesame balls in sesame.

    Serve with walnuts and if you have a sweet tooth, drip with honey or agave syrup.

  • Vegan sushi salad bowl

    Vegan sushi salad bowl

    Not sure I am even really allowed to use the word sushi here, as it has not so much to do with highly skillful processing of raw fish but all the more with combining the other usual ingredients of sushi into a delicious salad.

    Combine pieces of avocado with pieces of raw bell pepper (and/or other veg you have lying around, such as carrot, spring onions or lettuce, the more the merrier). Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and dulse (seaweed) flakes, then dress with sesame oil, salty soy sauce (I use Kikkoman) and maybe some rice vinegar to your liking.

    Enjoy ?

  • Golden oat milk

    Golden oat milk

    A winner combo: homemade oat milk with turmeric (kurkuma).

    The health benefits of turmeric are abundant, just search the web and you’ll find lots of info. One of the favorite ways of taking it, is the famous drink ‘golden milk’: a mix of milk (any kind) and turmeric with added oils and black pepper for better absorption by the body.

    The recipe is simple: to my 15 minute oat milk (recipe here), simply add a tablespoon of turmeric, a tablespoon of santen (coconut cream, or use half a can of coconut milk, or fresh of course if you are somewhere tropical) and a few twists of fresh black pepper.

    After blending and passing the milk through a sieve, add honey/agave syrup/any other sweetener (I use honey and vanilla sugar) to bring the sweetness to your liking.

    I even like to add this to my coffee sub! Or simply drink as is, a small glass a day, especially when your throat aches as turmeric is a master infection killer when used topically.

    One last advice: this stuff is used for cloth dyeing and with good reason. It stains like mad. Wear something old ;).

  • Baked apple with cinnamon

    Baked apple with cinnamon

    Delicious, old fashioned, simple: my love came up with these when he remembered one of the favorite dishes his mother used to serve when he was little. I took the liberty to add walnuts, hope that’s ok Hanni ;).

    So here we go, sweet memories:

    Cut the heart from your apple(s), cut in thick slices of at least 1 cm and bake for about 5-7 minutes each side in a frying pan or oven (200 degrees Celsius) with butter or coconut oil.

    During the last few minutes, add crumbled walnuts.

    On the serving plate, add cinnamon and, if you have a sweet tooth, honey or agave syrup.

    Incredibly soothing, this simple yet comforting and delicious dish. Like laying your head in your mom’s lap.

    I remember my mom made stuffed apples with almonds and raisins (I think), I’ll have to ask her and will share here if she still remembers!

    What’s your favorite mama dish? Enjoy your trip down memory lane and please share below :).