Happy Healthy Hair- naturally

hi beautifuls!  I wanted to share with you a healthy tip that has made SUCH a difference to my life.  You see, I've often suffered a flakey scalp as I tend to scratch my head when I'm perplexed!  It sounds trivial but can result in major snowiness, embarrassment and discomfort...

As antidandruff shampoos are SO unhealthy, and often dangerous, I tried tea-tree varieties; hairdresser-prescribed hair washes (Keratase);  a non-chemical scalp-rub; and the home-remedies of a hair-mask of olive oil, and rinsing with apple cider vinegar.  I also upped my intake of EFAs in the form of a fish oil supplement and women's multi-vitamin ~ feeling great.  

But... although I'm sure none of these remedies harmed the condition, it didn't improve.  I am lucky to have straight, fine hair and alot of it!  And I wanted this embarrassing problem AWAY!

Solution:  massage flaxseed oil into your hair before washing it your regular way.  This morning, after a first treatment, I am amazed that there are zero flakes, revealing slightly pink splotches on my scalp.  But, must repeat here: No flakes.  And No itchiness!

If any of you have suffered as I have, I do urge you to try flaxseed oil.  I wish you happy, healthy hair- naturally.  

Sunday Share~ Happy Anniversary

This man.

...who helps me
Listens to me
Bends to me til breaking point...




Takes me to Tiffany when it's closed
(But arranges home-delivery)



Real life-~ and my~ hero


Happy 4 years anniversary!


On the menu: Fisherman's lunch & Strawberries with greek yoghurt drizzled with raw honey.


 Thank you for sharing our special day!

Summer by the Sea 1 ~recipe

 

We are so lucky to live by the ocean and these pale summery days are perfect for finding new picnic places around the cliffs and on the shore by the Bay.  Husby, when he's not in a helicopter, is enjoying a new hobby: fishing.  Yesterday he caught mackerel.  Poor darlings!

adapted from Channel 4's cook it!

But oh- how deiciously yum they were, simply grilled back at home after D'd taken the insides out, and I rubbed them with butter and salt.

I'd never buy mackerel by choice really; am I a fish snob?  It's not really an elegant fish:  quite small, boney, with a strip of dark meat running through which is stronger tasting than the delicious white meat- but it's nutritious and environmental qualities are outstanding.  Rich in Essential Fatty Acids; an excellent source of protein, of course; a sustainable fish caught locally... and it is always such an adventure to cook & eat something you've caught yourself- from blackberries to fish!  

Been fishin'?  Do try this delicious simple recipe, 

Griddled Mackerel with Fennel.

1 mackerel per person, gutted and filleted (so easy to do yourself!)

1 small bunch fat leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 fennel

Juice of half a lemon, the other half cut into wedges to squeeze over the fish

2 garlic cloves, mashed with salt

Butter (optional)

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

How to...

• In a glass bowl, mix by hand the parsley, juice of half a lemon and mashed garlic.  (Now you've got "gremolata"- an italian herb combination deliciously zesty which freshens up any rich dish!)
• Rub the fish with butter and sprinkle with sat.
• Heat a griddle pan, or (as I do) a george foreman/electric grill, on high for half a minute.  Sprinkle the pan or griddle with olive oil, add the fennel and grill until soft and juicy, about 1 min.  Remove and set aside.
• Add the fish to the pan or gril and cook for 3 minutes or until fish softly flakes when poked by a fork.
• Serve the mackerel atop the fennel, sprinkled with the gremoata (parsley mix).  

Roast sweet potatoes and onions are a lovely accompaniment- recipe for Gorgeous Sweet potato wedges here! 

 Maybe you've done it before, but it is really a new experience to have pulled abundance straight from the sea for our dinner!  I wish you a beautifully healthy & abundant end of August.

What's summer without... a picnic?

THAT gorgeous Berry Yoghurt cake- perfect for summer sharing!  Recipe here.

As a little girl I was blessed with parents who loved the outdoors.  We'd often, in the Great Aussie way, have a barbie on summer afternoons after Dad had mowed the lawn.  Fresh cut grass and the smell of sizzling beer on a hot plate (it's the best cleaner, you know), take me right back to age 7.


When I was in uni at Sydney my sophisticated boyfriend and I would buy a kilo of king or tiger prawns from the fish market in Pyrmont on our special occasions and take them back to Manly Head, where we'd set up a lavish lawn picnic in the national park.  We'd bring our champagne buckets filled with ice, too many bottle of NZ sauvignon blanc and perhaps a salad and fresh baguette.  But it was really about the gorgeous fresh pink prawns and afterwards, daydreaming on a white sheet under the impossibly wide blue sky.


I like to think I've picnicked my way round the world ever since, and given a sunny day, my catering thoughts immediately turn al fresco.
More memorable picnics include: in Central park, NYC, where I saw my first fire-flies... high on a mountain in Austria, eating packed-cheese sandwiches and fresh picked blueberries from beneath our feet... 


And here on the Isle of Man, where the weather is so tumultuous, where a mornings sunbathing can be followed by an afternoon of freezing fog.  Picnic style changes due to location, doesn't it?  Here I've learned it's not about the equipment, the style, the setting.  We go where the sun is strong and people few.  We're off on one now (it's been sunny for a few hours, late august, and the sky is that funny pale blue colour where it's impossible to tell if there's clouds or not... sun's hot though; we'll chance it.


What to eat?
In thinking how much I wanted to share the joy of picnicking with you, because, to alot of the friends I've dragged along with me, they don't understand the point of :- preparing.packing.unpacking.eating/spills/forgotten items/weather changes/bugs/location variables/packing.unpacking cleaning (to which I say whatwouldyoulike.pop it in there.anything else you need/what would make it super special.i know where we're going, it's a surprise. right, just here is fine. yum/yum/oh look at that/oh that makes me remember/would you ever like to/wouldn't it be nice if/i've always wanted to.time to go. wasn't that great.it's good to be home.), I had in my mind to pop here a picnic menu of simple yummies that make alfresco just so good.


Happily- so happily- I had unexpected help because just when one is in the middle of a great blogpost and one's attention invariably switches to facebook, what should appear but my talented friend Lisa Miller's article in nourish magazine suggesting How to tempt picky eaters.  She suggests a selection of healthy goodies, and so many of these are perfect picnic fodder too!


When you're lured by the promise of fun and relaxation alfresco, here are some wonderful ideas for your menu. *means they're going in my backpack for our jaunt right now! 

Nibbles:
Healthy tortilla chips, home-made veggie crisps, home-popped corn
Dips: hommus, tzatiki*, peanut butter, minted yoghurt, salsa
Vegetable crudites*, celery, cucumber, carrot, sliced peppers, baby beets, broccolini, asparagus, apple
Hard boiled eggs, peel them once sitting down


The main event:
Chicken- organic, pre-roasted and cut into portions (a british thing?) 
Turkey salad rolls* -recipe to come!- a wonderful portable gluten free lunch for energy
Nori rolls filled with avocado, chopped cabbage and toasted sesame seeds 
Pre-grilled sausages, gluten free*
Prawn, calamari, or crayfish tail dressed in garlic chilli and olive oil
Salads:  Quinoa with peanuts and shallots*; Wild rice with pineapple or apricot; Mixed leaves with green beans; Caprese (tomato, basil and mozzarella stacks)


Thereafter;
Local organic cheeses, rye crackers
Grapes
Strawberries*
Olives
Greens organic chocolates
Home-made cake or health bars* the Berry Yoghurt cake pictured above's recipe, here!


Beverages:   Sparkling water, elderflower cordial, wine or champagne* if you are this way inclined; a martini shaker, ice, vodka, orange segments and cranberry juice.

Enjoy these beautiful days alfresco whilst you can, beautifuls!

Sunday Share~ A perfectly simple summer lunch

Happy Weekend, friends!  Many of you are excitedly counting down the days til you're in your favourite holiday place- or have you just arrived?  I wish you beautiful summer vacances, filled with lots of space for dreaming, walks on the beach or anywhere really, in refreshing morning air, and the feeling of hot sunshine on your body...

via {this is glamorous}

(... and remember to pick them up and pop them in your pocket...)





The pretty photos here are from gorgeous website and blog- {this is glamorous}- my very favourite place on the web, a magical treat of a space; like a haunting song or a mysterious portrait that one can only listen or look at for so long without being spoilt forever.  I go there often but don't linger too long, lest the beauty of that world ruins me forever in this one...   if you have a moment to dedicate to impossible glamour left in your summer, do treat yourself!


Share our Sunday lunch today?   I hope you can use it's delicious-ness on your holidays as an easy, filling yet healthy meal for kiddies, menfolk and we who dream of the glamorous life, alike.


It's the simple Omelette.

via {this is glamorous}

Ever notice that most perfect things, are simple?  The perfect aperitif: Champagne.  The perfect treat: A bowl of strawberries.  The perfect answer to any problem: A hug.


How to make the perfect omelette

• In a glass bowl beat three eggs with a fork.  You can add salt and pepper here if you like.
• Heat a pan on high for up to a minute then add a dollop of butter.  Now pour in the eggs, whilst shaking the pan.  Still shaking the pan, fluff the top of the omelette with a fork or chopsticks.  This ensures light-ness and an even consistency. 
• Before the eggs are set is the time to add cheese; fresh chopped soft fruit; tomatoes, torn basil and onion; or meats, as to the eater's preference!

• Slide the Omelette to the end of the pan where it should start to roll up.  If making for small children, pregnant ladies, the elderly or anyone with a comprised immune system, its better to wait to roll and slide out the omelette until there's no visible liquid on it's surface.

Who's next?  Making an omelette is a lovely way to involve everyone in the cooking of a simple, healthy meal and encourage bio-individuality.  Cooled, well done omelettes also make perfect picnic fodder!  Thank you for sharing!  Enjoy your lazy day!

The Universe wants us to eat Perfect Wedges.

YEEhar, woohoo and La-Ti-Da~ insert slam dunk here!~ this little bean has ...OH! just knocked over the water glass!


OK, I'm back!  Thank you beautifuls!  This little bean has just perfected-
Gorgeous Sweet Potato Wedges.  Carries health warning:  You may never eat another french fry again.


sigh.  I love looking at this picture, taken a few minutes ago.  All that's left now is a smudgey plate.  How many tries to get to this point? Too many!  But now the pudding is proven!  Am saving this recipe!  And sharing the secret!--->




What Samantha did right:
Don't peel the sweet potatoes (yams).  Wash, pat dry, and slice at an angle
Boil slices in salted water for 10 mins
Let drain on a clean tea towel.
Spread over a tin lined with baking paper; drizzle with olive oil
20 mins into cooking in @200 degrees/390F, sprinkle with salt and nutmeg
Cook a further 20 mins.


These beauties mopped up some organic (store-bought) hommus.  Missing my avocados (this time last year, I wouldn't touch them!)... tomorrow, with baby spinach, I promise myself!


New focus:  quality; not calories.  whole foods, not diet foods, 4 weeks in on this one, no weight change... Taste = a million times improvement.)


with a happy heart and wishes on the wind to you this full-moon night-


Samantha
xxx

"Get. A .Grip." (plus the recipe you'll need- to decompress)

When someone says, "Get a grip!" to you, what does this make you do?  

A.  Rebel.  I don't let someone else's priorities rule my life no matter how sane they sound.

B.  Make sure to keep a foot in the world around me... this could be important.

C.   If it's the Universe sending the Get A Grip message, I need to wake up and realise what's really important to me.

A, B or C?
(our answer:  ALL of the above)

For lunch:  Lose-it Salad

I Got a  "Get a Grip!" call from the Universe this am.  Tightened my hold, zooomed in focus, went:  this is not what I want to be part of but oooomph it needs doing- and found a solution.  Now, I can lose it- ie. Release.  Must eat.  Lunch = glass of sauvignon blanc and THIS salad.  Time to let spirit wander again.  She just loves it, you know.

Nicoiseasy salad- Friday lunch

serves 1 greedy green monster.

Mixed salad leaves- 4 handfuls

Sustainable tuna in brine- 1 tin drained

4 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup peas (fresh or un-frozen)

1/2 onion or 3 shallots

1 baby pickled beet, drained & sliced

1 egg, hard boiled, quartered

2 tablespoons of roasted/toasted in frypan for few mins, sunflower seeds

dressing:

1 clove garlic, mashed with a pinch of salt

1 tbsp olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Pinch mixed herbs (dried in a jar purchased from supermarket)

Fresh cracked black pepper

How to-:

1. Add all the salad ingredients except the sunflower seeds and egg to a large bowl. Toss by hand.  
2. Shake all the dressing ingredients in a fresh jar.
3. Mix the dressing into the salad with a wooden spoon until well combined.  Pile in a large shallow bowl.
4. Arrange the egg quarters on top, sprinkle with the roasted sunflower seeds, and garnish with more black pepper.

Remember, beautifuls!  This is lose-it salad.  You aren't going to find a grounding, stabilising mood in eating this.  You'll be away with the fairies with green tara inspired lettuce leaves for wings!  You'll need a nourishing, grounding dinner in a few hours.  After dinner then, you may be ready for another Get. A. Grip. call.  




This post dedicated to my absurd family in Australia; and to Susie Juuls, who (I believe) actually has said this to her passengers.  Making her only the most inspiring air hostess, ever, to work with! xo

Welcome to paradise- 10 days of JOY

Hi beautifuls. Really I am so excited to share with you the beautiful, joyous journey I have been on for the past ten days.  I have laughed; I have cried- sobbed for hours, tears streaming down my face, not at my own sorrows (mostly) but on the stories shared by other members of the incredible "Joy Tribe" I was part of.  I've woken up with puffy eyes, drank fresh water with lemon every morning, stayed in my pyjamas til 5pm one day; got dressed up in finery and supped champagne at 11am, another day.

These are all the external things really, right?  Putting on beautiful earrings.  Making music and DANCE!! part of the everyday.

The internal shifts of this week have been seismic.  Two or three really "hellish" things happened.  Like- rethink the life-plan things.  Which were not without tears of their own.  We mourn the loss of our ideas... of our identities...- don't we?

207 ladies were in the Joy Tribe.  We started the journey in our own corners of the world, and bravely carried it through the wild irrational spaces of our own homes.  It is these ladies, and our beautiful leader, Hannah Marcotti, founder and leader of the JoyUP, who I am so in love with and despite the inner turbulence and changes I feel, it's them who have made the reality of living in JOY worthwhile.  It's more practise than paradise.

The last piece of Soulwork assigned was to find in our environments a special stone.  A stone we could journey on with, to access it's grounding, truthful energy.  Maybe as a lucky charm, to whisper our worries to or just as a reminder we did this.  Hannah has a thing for white stones.  (I have a thing for Hannah.  girl-crush! so embarrassing!)

It has been pouring with rain all day here- in the wetly wild, can't walk outside your door way the Isle of Man gets.  But around 6pm, the clouds lifted slightly.  So I put on a blowy skirt and dangly earrings- dressing up to get my stone.  I wanted a white one, just like Hannah's.  Maybe I'd get two- and post one to her!  this thought made me race out the door and onto the beach.

"There is so much magnificence... in the ocean"-  Miten & Deva Premal

It is a fib, the paragraph above.  It had been pouring and super-windy.  But before I put on my pretty skirt I went out on the beach, for a run, and I was just going to get a stone for our soulwork.  When I saw how the beach had not been walked on all day, how hundreds of sparkling pebbles were winking as me as I jogged, I knew.  I knew I wanted 207 white pebbles, one for all of us in the joy tribe.  I came back down in my blowy skirt.  I picked up off the sand, and added to a beautiful jar I was keeping hematite crystals in- 208 white rocks (one for our beautiful founder, too!)

Just two thoughts
1. Every single rock is different.  Some were clustered on the beach together - a bit like JOY tribe members who discovered they lived in the same small east coast town this week!  Some were small and pointy.  Others were round and weighty.  Some almost transparent, some flecked with gold, or striped with caramel.  Some slipped through my fingers as I picked them up- many are called but few are chosen; I thought.  I let them be.  We, Joy tribe are Brightly shining white pebbles.  We are so may when we look!  But I only wanted 208.

2.  This jar of pebbles to me represents the fruition of a dream.  Hannah's dream.  To join 200 beings in a quest for JOY.  It may have seemed unlikely, even impossible, to her at one time.  I can imagine that others said it couldn't be done.  This jar will always stand as testament to me of the power of a loving group; a devoted, heart-centred, visionary leader; and the triumph of a life devoted to living in beauty.

Thank you Hannah!  Thank you, JOYtribe! for the ideas- creativity- stories- bravery- friendship- introductions- new dreams birthed- old broke pieces swept away.

~sparkles & butterflies a'fluttering now, always!~

Truly, Madly, Raw-ly... and a recipe

www.samanthahoney.com

If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way. --Buddha


Fancy sharing my raw lunch?


Since completing more of my IIN studies I've become deliciously tempted to go RAW.  And through listening to raw-foodie friends and resources....plus sages like Natasha St Michael- who used a raw food diet to cure PCOS; David Wolfe , THE raw food guru; and UK's own Gillian McKeith- I'd love to encourage you to enjoy two or three meals, most days, eating raw too.


I kind of get overwhelmed with juicing talk, discussions of acai, goji berries and raw cacau.  I wanna take this stuff slow.  One resource I'll be using is the Raw Food Institute's Raw-gust- all this month they're offering free support to raw food enthusiasts!  If you want to also get a feel for how fun and delicious raw food can be, visit Rawfully Tempting- Barbara is a talented lady with a fantastic site and recipe collection.  I promise you'll be as excited as me at the possibilities...


Just quickly- why would I like to, and encourage others, to "go raw"?  

1. Going raw is a sexy concept... with sexy promises... and NO-ONE's profiting.  There are a million ways to do this and yes, you can buy a book, or a cleanse, or get support from a health coach or other professional with this but- you don't have to.  You just begin... by upping your intake of fresh -preferably organic- washed, vegetables and fruits. Our own bodies and healthy life are what's benefiting, here!
2. It promises us more energy, freed up by quicker and less taxing digestion on the body.  So much energy is wasted on digestion.  That why, when we're really ill, we have no appetite.  The body is using all it's energy for healing. Digestion just doesn't get a look-in.
3. It's a diet high in active enzymes which are destroyed when food is heated over 110F- enzymes which are the key to a healthy, vital life- that we gradually lose as we age, unless we ingest them.  
4. It aids healing and can reverse many of our modern diet-induces sicknesses- example here.  
5. Owning-up:  I'm a greedy, girly girl :P- and, on our plates, raw food looks pretty, is great for weight-loss and tastes fantastic.  I can't think of more reasons why I'd like to enjoy more raw food in my life (oh yes I can.  Clean and green, organic, intuition-enhancing, free from artificial ingredients...) and why it can assist you in any of the goals you have for a healthier lifestyle, too.

But notice I say- "enjoy more raw food".  "Going raw" sounds so scary- like- I'll never eat a cooked meal again!  That's SO not what this share with you is about.  Instead, here's my thoughts on going... eating... living Raw...

• You probably eat more raw than you know.  Fruit and nuts for breakfast.  A big salad filled with rainbow colours topped with sliced avocado for lunch.  Carrot, celery and broccolini dipped in hummous (from sproutde chickpeas) as a snack.
• I wanna learn how to make almond yoghurt.  Cashew nut cheese.  This is an adventure!
• Proof of the pudding re: superfoods:  Recently, I bumped into a man who I hadn't seen for 5 years.  In our conversation back then, he was complaining about his wife making him drink Spirulina every morning.  Seeing him the other week, he looked younger than he did those 5 years ago.  His skin was smoother, more hydrated.  Curious, I asked him if he was still taking the supplement.  He responded that he wouldn't go without it now!  Myself, I've been taking blue-green algae for a few months.  When my supply ran out last month I was without it for almost a week.  I felt waaaay more thirsty, and noticed my skin looked more tired.  Both Spirulina and BlueGreen algae are superfoods, a high source of natural and complete protein with amazing benefits proven and disproven.  But in my mind they are the real deal.  I've tasted the pudding.
• Bit of crunch for thought: we think we'll miss cooked food.  But really, what we're craving is texture and flavours.  Cheese, for instance, is a creamy, salty taste.  Pureed fresh corn kernels with soy sauce could fit this taste...  
• Last, I enjoy surprising my husband and myself with really healthy, tasty treats.  No more "fajitas again!  prawn or chicken?"  It's time to freshen up.  Take health and vitality to the next level.  And enjoy the extra energy raw food provides.  

www.samanthahoney.com

LUNCH:

Sweet Nut Salad with Tahini 'Mayonnaise'

3 cups mixed leaves

1 cup baby spinach

1/2 apple, peeled and sliced

Handful chopped walnuts

Handful chopped hazelnuts

1/2 cup fresh or frozen garden peas

Tahini mayonnaise:

1 tablespoon tahini

1/2 small onion, diced or 2 shallots, diced

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon honey

Black pepper, to taste.

• Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl
• Place all the 'mayo' ingredient in a clean jar, and shake well til combined.
• Divide the salad between 2 plates, tip over the 'mayo' (you should have enough for another day too!), garnish with black pepper, and serve.

oh! I also love sprinkle over all my savoury dishes- raw and otherwise- Clearspring's Nori flakes- any seaweed flakes will do, to include this deliriously beneficial superfood into our diets- a sprinkle is so palatable, and infinitely better than none! 

Be well!
With love,
Samantha.

Sunday lunch- Save the date!

So begins a lovely new tradition:  the Sunday Lunch share.  I hope this will become interactive, and I can learn so much from you... in time, I'd also like to start a facebook Sunday Lunch group- what we're planning, cooking and eating, how it went, who we are with, what we're hoping, feeling-- reflections on the week past and the week to come...


“There is no delight in owning anything unshared.”- Seneca


The template so goes:


1.  Start here.  Okay, it's 11am.  Just dropped Husby at the airport.  Feel twitchy, all full of things to do, but what first?  It's a grey cold and blustery summer's Sunday.


2.  Who's cooking what?  Just me.  I found 3 gorgeous cookbooks in the secondhand shop this week and this one especially is making me drool: "The New Vegetarian cookbook" by Heather Thomas with foreword by Linda & Paul McCartney.  Yes, it's very old.  It's so old that Heather Thomas is doing vegetarian in all sorts of deep fried, gluten-rich, sauce-y, simple carbohydrate loaded ways, ie. "Boil in the bag rice is a godsend!" not a quote, just you get the general gist ie.  not thaaaaat healthy!  But I am fascinated.  It also is English- in a way that knows what we have and can use and is achievable here.  I love American and Aussie recipes, and I've realised we all have to work within our own countries.


Menu:
Only 2 courses this day.  Main:  Filled crepes.
Dessert:  Date pudding.
Both from scratch.


How's the cooking?  Not showing the crepes pic... 'twas disaster!  Recipe doesn't work with Granary flour.  Needed to be thinner, smoother, lighter.  With a cheesier, richer,more velvetly elegant and creamy sauce...


Result?  Date pudding = Divine!  A gorgeous, "take anywhere", moist, dense cake; or a proper date pudding when the sauce is poured over:  here's the recipe.  It does contain gluten, dairy, nuts & sugar.  Do share your healthy exchanges for these.  


Dates are one of the most wonderful ingredients in a cook's cupboard- their inherent sweetness help minimise the added sugar (cut it by a half when using in any recipe), and they are rich in iron and B vitamins.


Any AHA!'s?  I found it so comforting to take direction from the recipe book at a wobbly moment after husband goes away and a big week in store. Yet I played with the recipe so much though after reading through it, it's comforting warming moist chewiness hardly resembles the "old fashioned tea loaf, serve in slices with butter" the original recipe creates!  That's why I found it so heartening that the Date Cake turned out brilliant whilst my savoury main left alot to be desired (when it's usually the other way around- baking isn't really a little bit of this and that way cooking style, is it?)  No matter how slap-dash a baker you may be, you can do this and it will turn out gorgeous, I promise!


Anyway, here's the recipe:


Ginger Date and Nut cake with pudding sauce


1 cup water
1/2 cup dark brown/molasses sugar
2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped dates
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/4 cups wholemeal plain flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts- walnuts and hazelnuts are great here
Pinch ground ginger
Pinch salt
1/4 cup stem or candied ginger (optional)


for the sauce: 
1/2 cup butter
4 tbsp honey
1/2 cup cream

1. Combine the water, sugar, baking soda, butter or oil, and dates in a saucepan.  Simmer for 1 min.  Transfer to a mixing bowl and let cool slightly.
2. Add the beaten eggs and mix.  
3. Sift in the flour, salt, spice.  Add the nuts and ginger if using.  Mix well. 

Bake in a preheated oven for 35 mins at 180degrees/ 350F or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.  I used a square pan- it would look lovely in a ring pan- I always line my pans in baking paper for easy escape.  Allow to cool in the pan for 10mins before lifting out.

• To make the sauce (not shown), bring all the ingredients to a simmer in a saucepan.  Sliced the cake, tip over the sauce, and garnish with lemon zest, shaved fresh ginger, and sliced strawberries.

~*~

To judge of how good ANY dish is for you, you can ask yourself these questions:

1.  Is it made from natural ingredients?

2.  Does it include fresh fruit and veg? 

3.  Does it avoid most irritants- gluten (wheat), nuts, dairy?

4.  Is it homemade; and made with love?

Be well!

love, Samantha.

Shady Lady salad... must share.

Good evening, beautifuls!  One for the tum here.  It has only been after SO wanting to share this dish with you, and researching it a little to explain the gorgeous mood that it puts me in, that I realise it was a recipe I laughed out loud at a few weeks ago- that recipe was loosely translated as "Whore's Spaghetti"


I guess then, this makes this "Whore's Salad"! 



Salad Puttanesca ~ the Shady Lady salad

The story goes:  Puttanesca gets it's name because it was so quick and simple to make, prostitutes in southern Italy would quickly dash to make a bowl to revive themselves between clients.  As believable as this is (because it IS quick!), another description I found...  


"[Puttanesca is] a little salty (from the anchovies)... a little spicy (from the capers)... and a little fragrant (from the garlic & the olives)" 


... may also explain why the salty, spicy, fragrant ladies of Italian nights had a dish named after them.


This dish is rich in natural, health-giving fats, greens and power-packed protein; and bursts with mediterranean summer flavour.  We are lucky enough to buy here (UK) a jar of "Puttanesca"- anchovies, capers and black olives preserved in olive oil- from Waitrose- I hope in Australia, Woolies; or State-side, Wholefoods or TraderJoes, sell a complete jar too! The speed of the dish is because all these fiddly yet delicious ingredients, a staple of Italian cuisine, can be added together, as in Italy.


Dark green leaves, diced cucumber, tomato and onion, a generous squirt of lemon, and a protein serve like chicken breast (shown here) or- my favourite; it seems to intensify the flavour- tuna- complete the "Whores salad":  a delicious, body-enhancing dish.  


Enjoy!


How to:
Serves two for lunch or light dinner- no cooking required

• 4 handfuls baby spinach
• 2 handfuls mixed baby leaves and herbs
• 1/2 cucumber, de-seeded, diced
• 8 cherry vine ripened tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 onion, I like red here, diced,
• 150g each person of cooked chicken breast or tinned tuna, organic/sustainable wherever possible
• 4 tablespoons Puttanesca mix or 100g mixed black olives pitted; capers, drained; anchovies, drained and crushed; with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Do it now!

1. Mix the protein with Puttanesca mix and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl. 
2. Add all other ingredients and toss.  
3. Divide between two serving bowls, garnish with cracked black pepper, and serve.

OM, that name!!! makes me giggle everytime.

Weight-loss Wednesday! this week's whisper

Good morning beautifuls!  This weeks whisper isn't rocket science- when are they ever?- but it will stop self-sabotage, enhance your confidence and give you amazing control and resistance regarding your food choices.  Over time, you'll become so attuned to enjoying great diet choices by incorporating this whisper into your life that you will have already become what you just ow refer to as a "Naturally Slim Person".


Does this sound familiar... A lovely client of mine yesterday sheepishly admitted she hadn't had the best week with healthy food.  She'd run out of fruit one breakfast, and chose a cereal she didn't really want to eat.  She was feeling stressed when attending a child's birthday party, ate too much cake... then was so tired one evening after a busy day, ordered in a less-than-health takeaway for the family.


The weight-loss whisper that will come to her assistance, and yours, is this.  In two words.  Be prepared.  Or in 5 words: Make time to be prepared. 


Supplies run out.  Time runs away.  Your health needs scheduling.  Healthy shopping needs scheduling.  You need support with this too- husband can stop by the fruit market on his way home from work... who can help you so you always have enough to make healthy choices?


Treats and indulgences are fun and enjoyable with food.  So, let's make them a deliberate choice- when they will leave you feeling uplifted and abundant- instead of depleted and let down.
You owe it to yourself to be organised, healthy and happy.  You can do it.  You're brave enough and smart enough.  I believe in you!  Enjoy making time to be prepared, this week.


Be Well,
with love,
Samantha.

Up, Up --> was life good to you, today?

Evening, beautifuls!

http://hannahsharvest.com/thejoyup/

"hello!" from Day 2 of the JoyUP program via Hannah's Harvest.  How did Life treat you, today?





Personally?  Well, after a wonderful day of helping to create beautiful bodies

x 3, my own smashed dreams and some sweet, unexpected moments; tonight I am so grateful for the three basics I have come to demand from Life: Someone to love Something (i feel is) important to do A vision to move towards Curious observation:  Life & I do have a relationship based on demands.  It will ask something quite unexpected, and it's my job to step up to the table.  Likewise, when something becomes a need, Life in her beauty is expected to manifest for me now- right this red-hot moment!! What's your relationship with Life? Mine works... most of the time.  Yet...  I wonder what would happen if I softened our relationship.  Hannah's JoyUP makes me want to soften... Perhaps, just tomorrow, Life & me could enjoy a relationship of mutual positive expectation.  Like a brilliant personal trainer, I could say; Life, I expect this!  Because Expectations get met.  Wants, often don't. And demands?  Well, that's just a little bit too forceful for someone as beautiful as Life... isn't it? Quotes to help & heal along this path:  "You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings." -Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love)- via JoyUP