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I'm currently cooking a weeks' worth of food for my cousin who is desperate to lose weight, spending a small fortune on a Personal Trainer and various supplements that don't seem to be having any effect. Quite the opposite - she's gained a stone in 6 months. Having said this, this could be muscle, but the calipers don't lie. So we're tackling her diet with a week of no carbs (apart from a few slices of rye bread and a handful of oats here and there), no sugar, no alcohol, and no meat. She's to drink 2 litres of water a day as well as a mid morning and mid afternoon juice. Day Example:
Breakfast - 1 slice of toasted Rye Bread with Almond Nut Butter and Orange slices
Mid Morning Juice - Kiwi, Apple, Pear and Broccoli Florets
Lunch - Red Cabbage with crumbled Feta Cheese, Apple and Sunflower Seeds with a Wholegrain Mustard and Lemon Juice dressing
Mid Afternoon Juice - Cranberries, Apple, Carrot and Ginger
Supper - Cauliflower and Red Lentil Dahl with Spinach and a sprinkling of Parsley
I do hope this works. Eating so many vegetables she can't not feel better, cleansed and with so much fibre she can surely only get rid of the toxins preventing her fat cells from breaking down...surely! Obviously I want this to work to prove to my loved ones that this really is the way to get results, but more than anything I want this to give her the happy boost she is so in need of right now. Keep you posted on her progress...
So the first week back at work after the Christmas break meant detox time!
Back in January, Little Sprouts ran its debut session in Wiltshire. What an eye opener into how not to do things next time! I learnt so much, and have still so much to learn. We ran two sessions back to back - error number one! There was too little time in between to clear up and offer mums and dads the opportunity to ask a few questions. We focused on carrots, apples and spinach. All the kids had their own carrot complete with green carrot top. We sang a song about picking carrots from the ground - hence the carrot top to pull up the carrot from the ground. I was so very nervous (of the Mums and Dads) that I 
forgot my words and had to refer to my notes - sooooo unprofessional Phili! We looked at all the different ways we can eat carrot - grated, batons and rounds...making a smiley face on paper plates with all three varieties. However, there wasn't sufficient quantities of each for the next session - error two. So improvisation came into the game, with more time singing songs about carrots!! Thank goodness I remembered the words the second time round. The second group was a wee bit older - they weren't buying into the fact that carrots can make you see in the dark, and too right too! The age spectrum was too broad and I was uncertain as to how much detail of nutritional facts I could launch into without receiving a glazed over expression from the younger ones and drawing the older ones (6 years old) into asking more questions - taking us off subject. Conclusion - 6 years old is too old for Little Sprouts.
Spinach was next on the menu - seeing how we could make teeth marks in the spinach, then cooking it up and seeing how it can reduce! Error three - hot steaming spinach is not ideal around little hands who want to grab and feel everything. No dramas, but the potential for disaster was something I'd wish to avoid in the future.
Apples for pud - using our 'pampered chef' children's chopping knives we cut into the apples to see what we could find inside...pips and a star shape if cut at the right angle. We explored the different colours of apples and rubbed them on our jumpers to see if we could make them shiny and see our faces!
and last but not least...the Nutrition Kitchen aspect came into full force - we made carrot and apple muffins. Yummy! Ideally there should have been 2 children to each batch - but 
instead numbers were so great that we had 2 batches and about 6 kids to each batch! Mess everywhere. But they were delighted with the result - the magic oven that takes seconds...otherwise known as here are some I made earlier.
Each kid delved into a bag of kiddies organic treats I'd picked up from Wholefoods, had a muffin 'they' had made and the parents got to take away a fact sheet of more fun things to do with carrots, apples and spinach...as well as the recipe for those delicious muffins!
A wonderful experience...that I truly hopes goes soooo much smoother next time. I'll keep you posted.
My liver and I are feeling not so innocent and WE cannot wait for our detox deliveries to commence tomorrow. In preparation, I've been trying to live life relatively purely since New Year's Eve. And what's more pure than an innocent smoothie? I always like to start the day with a mug of hot water and lemon, and a juice. A classic is carrot, apple and ginger, but wanting to support my liver's regeneration I poured over innocent smoothie recipe book for a miracle cure combination... There were a few that gave me that 'halo' feeling : the Carrot, Beetroot and Celery (2 carrots, 1 raw beetroot (or 2 baby ones), 1 stick of celery & 1 apple), and Celery, Apple and Mint (2 crunchy apples, 1 stick of celery, some fresh mint). These concoctions were my pick of the bunch. I'm already feeling more detox than retox... Another thing, when sugar is off the menu, instead of "the proof is in the pudding", I like to think "the proof is in the peeing". And I think the gang at innocent drinks agree with me... Why else would they include an 'innocent wee-ometer'? It is tricky to perfect your water intake when away from your usual routine, and when the weather is bbbbbrrrrrrrrr, oh so cold. Not that many people feel like drinking a cold glass of water when it's winter, le
t alone the recommended 8! It's not so hard when you're back in your routine at work. I always aim to fill up my 1 litre water bottle before I sit down to work, and then have another 500ml to work/on my way home. Plus the herbal teas through out the day. Well, at least there are some good things about returning to the office and a regular routine. Further positives to this 'juicing and water' habit is that I feel alert, and am better able to concentrate. Although, I think some of my increased concentration levels is having to get away from the desk and have a break...well...what with all that water and all!
Just doing a spot of Little Sprouts research and came across Plum Baby's new innovative website: Plum Vision. Produced to stimulate a baby's senses not only through food, but also through the visual using lots of colour and sound to simulate what is going on in the short film. There's an abundance of nature with landscapes, animals and even a short film depicting 'wind'...of the outside kind. Each chapter commences with a brief caption on how parents might like to engage their child furthe
r with the Plum Vision clip and thereby get all they can out of the programme. However, you can turn this information off if it's distracting 'Small'. Dr Pat Spungin, a Child Psychologist, has worked closely with Plum Baby founder, Susie Willis, to create this sensory extravaganza! I adore this lateral thinking...
Having previously worked for a nutritionally balanced food delivery service in London, I am always keen to sample the goods of other companies. Still loyal and checking out the competition! Come 4 January 2010, I will be sampling the goods of Raw Fairies... I first heard about them from a magazine (where I get most of my ideas) and googled them. They had an unimpressive website, but the concept appealed to me. Whatever is a hit in sunny California and fast paced New York...usually ends up being a toned-down success, but success all the same, in London. I later saw something on youtube (I think...although, I'm afraid it's no longer there) where Vicki Edgson was reviewing and then endorsing the product. I loved getting my PP delivery on those days I was sampling, but with the novelty factor that is coming with the Raw Fairies delivery for a 5 day detox...I'm all the more excited. Hence, why I couldn't wait til Monday 4 January to share the forthcoming event. Watch this space...
I'm definitely a Christmas person - carols, tree decorating and gift wrapping galore! Loving my vegetables, I've even gone as far as making a brussel sprout wreath for my front door. Nutritionist I may be, but I'm only human and indulgence is still on the menu. If you can't at Christmas when can you? Indulging in brussel sprouts just doesn't cut it. Christmas on the whole has the potential to be significantly nutritious...nuts, winter fruits (satsumas & pomegranates) and winter vegetables (brussel sprouts, leeks and carrots). It's the quantity of it all that has the potential to overload our digestive system. Tha
t, and the quantity of alcohol, sugar and meats that we may be consuming amidst all the celebrations. Christmas cake and mince pies aside, I notice that there is little wheat around at Christmas time. For me it isn't so much the Christmas bloat as the Christmas toxification. I feel sluggish this morning... After all these acid forming foods, I'm not surprised. So it's time for an alkaline or neutral food overload, in order to reset the balance.
I'm currently cooking a weeks' worth of food for my cousin who is desperate to lose weight, spending a small fortune on a Personal Trainer and various supplements that don't seem to be having any effect. Quite the opposite - she's gained a stone in 6 months. Having said this, this could be muscle, but the calipers don't lie. So we're tackling her diet with a week of no carbs (apart from a few slices of rye bread and a handful of oats here and there), no sugar, no alcohol, and no meat. She's to drink 2 litres of water a day as well as a mid morning and mid afternoon juice. Day Example:
