Carrot "pasta" with a zing: Easy peasy and Yummy!

After the last few weeks of over indulgence in just about everything I'm feeling rather heavy & dull so I will be starting a 3 day Cold Pressed Juicery Cleanse with the aim to energize my body back up and feel good again!

Before doing any cleanse it is important to prepare your body for a few days before, this means having a few early nights & avoiding meat, processed foods such as bread & pasta, gluten, dairy, processed sugar, saturated fats, alcohol & caffeine for at least 2 days before the cleanse. 

This time around, not eating traditional pasta forced me to come up with another option - Carrot "pasta" with a zing, it's super easy, delicious & very nutritious:

Ingredients 

serves 2 hungry pre-cleansers

8 carrots

2 tablespoons tahini

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons tamari sauce

2 teaspoons grated ginger

2 small garlic cloves grated

a handful of parsely

a handful of seeds (I used pine nuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds & sunflower seeds)

Chilli flakes optional!

Method:

Peel the carrots and then spiralize (or just grate) your carrots into a big bowl.

Mix the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, tamari, ginger & garlic together in a smaller bowl. 

Pour the sauce over the carrots and mix well.

Top with chopped parsley and seeds and chilli flakes if using.

 

Bon appetite!

P.S. If you like this, you may also like my Zoodle Pad Thai recipe :-)

LahLah's Zoodle Pad Thai

Zoodle (zucchini noodle) Pad Thai

If you've never tried a zoodle pad thai then you are missing out because, oh boy is it good! It's also conveniently healthy too ;-) 

I couldn't find a recipe I was happy with online, so I have been experimenting and am finally happy with the results!

The ingredients & recipe might look long, but it really is super simple to make and a lot of the ingredients are cupboard ingredients that you may already have, or will need to buy once and they will be there each time you make this (I'm sure you'll make it more than once, it's that yummy & easy to make!).

Ingredients: (feeds two hungry yogis)

Store Cupboard Ingredients:

• 2 tsp tamarind paste

• 3tbs fish sauce 

• a handful of dry roasted, unsalted peanuts

• a pinch of dried chilli flakes

• a pinch of rock salt

• a few good splashes of sesame oil

Fresh Ingredients:

• 4 x zucchini (you will also need a spiralizer. I use this one. If you don't have one you could grate the zucchini on a large hole grater. same same, but different!)

• 1 x red pepper (or your preferred colour of pepper!)

• 1/2 a turnip (optional)

• 3 x spring onions

• 2 x red chilli

• a big handful of mange tout

• a big handful of coriander 

• 1 x lime

• 2 x big garlic cloves (or 3 small)

• a small piece of ginger

• and any other veg you fancy - I would add beansprouts too but I can never find them in Malta!

Method

• Finely chop your spring onions, red chilli and place to one side in a bowl together. Slice your mange tout into thirds and add to this bowl.  Roughly chop your corriander and set aside

•  Make your dressing: crush (or very finely chop) your garlic, grate your ginger and add the tamarind paste, fish sauce and the juice from half the lime to this and mix. 

• Crush the handful of peanuts and a pinch of dried chilli flakes and rock salt in a pestle & mortar until the peanuts become big crumbs. Set aside.

•  Sprialize your zucchini to make your zoodles. I use this very simple spiralizer.

•  Finely slice (julienne them if you want to be fancy) your pepper and 1/2 the turnip (if using). 

• Heat a BIG frying pan or wok on high heat with a few splashes of sesame oil, when it's heated add the zoodles, pepper and turnip to the pan. Lightly coat all in the sesame oil and fry for a few minutes. Don't cook the veg too much, just so it is heated through -approx 4 minutes. 

• Take the zoodle mix off the heat, mix in the spring onions, chilli & mange tout. Add your dressing and mix well. Plate your zoodles and then add some chopped coriander and a sprinkle of your peanut chilli crumbs to the top. Serve with a wedge of lime & extra chilli flakes if you like it hot!

The perfect blend of taste, crunch, spice, yumminess & health!

Enjoy & please feel free to comment if you like it or if you find any delicious variations! Find nourishing retreats on bookretreats.com x x xxx

3 DAY COLD PRESSED JUICE CLEANSE

What is it actually like to do a 3 day juice cleanse, having only 6 juices and 2 litres of water each day? Read on for my cold press cleansing experience and tips!

So when I decided to do a cleanse, my first reaction was EEK. It's not really a big thing in the grand scale of things, but it was my first cleanse and being a food lover I was a bit nervous to be honest!

I decided to do the cleanse to help bring me a bit more vitality, leaving behind the winter lethargy and low energy. Also to cleanse any toxic waste that has been building up in my system, but also to flood my system with nutrients and minerals to revitalise and energise. What better time to do a little spring cleaning of the body than around Spring equinox too :-)

I was selected as a lucky guinea pig to sample the new Cold Pressed Juicery Cleanse, to make sure they are good and suitable for YOU to be able to do soon!

PREP FOR THE CLEANSE: 

Rather than cold turkey my body into shock on Day 1, I tried to ease my way into the cleanse starting three days before by cutting out:

Meat (no problemo)

Coffee (no problemo)

Alcohol 

Processed foods (pasta, bread, gluten, dairy, processed sugar, saturated fats) (slight problemo, I LOVE bread & pasta)

And at the same time gradually reducing my amount of meals per day and gently increasing my intake of juice. I ate a lot of raw food - raw courgette pasta with different pestos and lots of fruit and nuts were mainly on the menu!

CLEANSE DAY 1:

I survived Day 1!

It has actually been OK! Made sure to drink lots of water along with a juice approximately every two hours. The almond milk was delicious, super thick and was especially filling, almost wish the cleanse was 6 x almond milks a day. hehe

I've felt hungry, but not so hungry I wanted to eat all the yogis on the mat in front of me (watch out yogis tomorrow!!). Been to the loo quite a few times so I think it's working ;-), muscles and body slightly achey but no huge side effects so far. Fingers crossed tomorrow will be ok!

I removed all tempting food from the fridge and any naughty biscuits I had lying around have been hidden away from view which has helped not having food right in front of me! 

CLEANSE DAY 2:

Today I feel the cleanse really kicked in. I had a slight headache and felt slightly nauseous during the morning and felt my energy was really lacking all day.. I'm assured this means the cleanse is working well :-) 

I have tried to have a juice every two hours but it was a bit harder to keep to it today, and of course lots of water and hot water with lemon and ginger. 

I am going to have a very very early night and tried to sleep it all off.

CLEANSE DAY 3:

I slept for 10 beautiful hours, and I have woken up feeling wonderful! My energy feels restored and I feel very light in all senses of the word. The headache and nausea has passed and I would almost consider doing an extra few days if I will feel like this!  Although I did not start the cleanse for weight-loss reasons, I have definitely lost weight (unfortunately I don't own a scale so cannot tell you exactly how much I lost, but I can really feel a difference. I feel more stream-lined ;-) not a bad side effect).

Co-incidently I did wake up with no voice today all of a sudden, I am not sure if this is directly related to the cleanse or not!

Again, I found it hard to stick to a juice precisely every two hours, but I have been ok regardless. Lots of water. I'm starting to think about what my first real food should be tomorrow, although I am also planning to exit the cleanse gently maybe starting with fresh fruit in the morning and a raw salad for lunch...easy does it! 

Enjoying my "lunch"!

DAY 4

I have woken up feeling great, very light again, in all senses of the word. Lots of energy, and feeling quite focused. My sore throat is clearing (very odd!), I'd be very interested to hear if anyone else gets a sore throat too! 

Although I can eat today, I am not dying to eat to be honest, I really thought I would be! I actually feel like I could keep going for a few more days quite easily, but alas I only have one juice left! I have had my morning hot water and lemon, and the last  juice and I have started slowly with half a banana. I will try to stick to raw foods today, tomorrow may be difficult as I am travelling long haul, but I'll do my best! Having done the cleanse and felt fine it has made me realise how much I generally eat un-necessarily. I will always have second helpings of something if it is delicious even when I am getting full, and this is so un necessary!! Hopefully I;ll manage to kick this habit!

All in all, I have surprisingly really enjoyed the cleanse, I was impressed by how easy it was once you get into the swing of it and would definitely like to continue doing regular, possibly seasonal cleanses now. 

CLEANSE TIPS

If you are planning to do a cleanse here are my recommendations (please note these are based on my personal experience and knowledge):

• Make sure to prepare your body for the cleanse, not just diving head first into it on day 1. Start to gradually cut coffee, meat, alcohol, processed foods & sugars out and begin to up your juice intake while gently decreasing your food intake. This will really help to reduce any huge side effects and help you to get the best out of your cleanse.
• Plan the cleanse over a few days where you will not be crazy busy and will have time to let your body rest too. My hardest day was day two and I definitely needed to rest and allow my body to replenish and regenerate. The body will have difficulty benefitting from the cleanse if you are stressed or hitting the gym hard daily.
• Cleansing is not so much about what you are putting into your body, but more about what you are leaving out (processed, toxic foods we have become accustomed to such as white bread, pasta, biscuits, alcohol, caffeine, meats). While we are leaving out those nasties, we giving our digestive system a break to regenerate and the extra energy normally used to digest can be used to help heal the body (very simplified explanation, please forgive me!). At the same time, the juices we consume still provide our body with the protein, nutrients and minerals needed to keep us going. It is important to drink fresh, and 100% raw juices during a cleanse to give you body the maximum nutrients possible. 
• Try to empty the fridge and hide anything that might tempt you to make the cleanse easier.
• Try to cleanse with a friend or family member, it makes it much easier!
• DRINK LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER...and expect to be peeing A LOT! And also expect to poo quite a lot!
• REST! Make sure you get to bed early while on the cleanse, those precious extra hours of rest work wonders for the body.
• If you feel you really need food, then LISTEN TO YOUR BODY and have some, but try to stick to raw veg and maybe a handful of raw nuts if possible.
• On exiting the cleanse, try to ease the body back in gently i.e. don't have a fry up for breakfast on day 4! Try to eat raw food for as long as possible post cleanse, and try not to rush back into your coffee habit, or that glass of wine straight away.  Maybe think about how good you are feeling now after the cleanse and think what you could maybe cut back on in your normal diet to help keep you feeling this way!

The body is a miraculous healing machine,and when we abstain from the foods that interfere with the natural healing Physiology of our bodies, cleansing & detoxing can begin!

Cold Pressed Juicery Cleanses will be available shortly, for more info please see their website.If you decide to do a cleanse, I hope you enjoy it and please leave me a comment to let me know how it goes for you!

xx

*Please note, this blog is based on my personal experience of a juice cleanse, and it does not mean that yours will be similar should you decide to do one. Each and every one of us are beautifully different and will respond to a cleanse in a different way. I am already a vegetarian and try to eat a balanced, nutritious diet on most days of the week so I may have had less to cleanse than someone who eats meat daily and drinks lots of coffee etc. Do not attempt a cleanse if you a pregnant. If you have any other medical condition, or are unsure about starting a cleanse,  please consult a Doctor or Nutritionist.*

Cold Pressed, what's the difference?!

You may have noticed I have recently been posting rather a lot about juices! I'm super happy to finally be able to tell you ALL about it!

I am involved in establishing cold pressed juices on our sunny little island of Malta! The brand is called Cold Pressed Juicery, and will be available from TOMORROW at Holland & Barrett Malta at their Sliema branch.

Since starting my yoga journey, I have become much more aware about what I put into my body, realising that anything we consume either works with the body to replenish, and nourish or works against the body, aggravating us. The difference with cold pressed juices is that they are made by being pressed between 12 metric tonnes of hydraulic pressure that produces 0 degrees heat, creating the smoothest, freshest tasting and most importantly, the most nutritionally dense juice that you have ever sipped. In the production of blended juices there is heat produced, which can essentially kill many of the vitamins and nutrients of the juice, and they are often watered down and contain ice all reducing the nutritional value of the juice. 

As life is already hectic enough, my vision is to create a simple & easy way (that tastes great too ) for everyone to replenish, nourish the body and to make sure you get your greens and keep the doctor away the natural way! Packed with a multitude of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes and other plant nutrients, and produced only from local Maltese ingredients with no added water, ice, sugar or preservatives, Cold Pressed Juices is simply the best way of getting the ‘good stuff’.

Making small positive changes in your daily life is easy, drinking fresh Cold Pressed Juices will provide an instant nutrient and sustained energy hit. Give yourself 10 minutes a day to stretch and breathe (if you have more than 10 minutes you can even do one of my videos :-) ). Give your body the tools to heal and thrive, deal with stress or illness, sleep better, and feel more dynamic and energized with Cold Pressed Juices and LahLah Yoga.

I love seeing people transform their lives for the better, be it through nutrition, yoga or any other form of exercise and it makes me truly happy knowing that through Cold Pressed Juicery & LahLah Yoga I am helping people to create a healthier and active lifestyle. I encourage you to take health into your own hands, think about what you are putting into your body,  and experience what it feels like to be truly nourished and satiated.

This is all about Positively Life Changing and Feeeeeellllliing Goooooood! 

xx

P.S. If you have any questions about cold pressed, or would even like to place an order feel free to drop me a line (even if you just want to say hello)