Have you been following since the early days and remember this backdrop?

Thank you SO much for sticking with me!

I miss this kitchen so much, even though I love our remodel into Tanya's "The Deli" and know that by adding the take out + delivery aspect to our business is helping to nourish more of you. 

I miss these adorable faces, even though I also adore the My Chelsea team managing the Deli. 

So many mixed emotions celebrating our 5 year anniversary.

The truth is, when we first opened, I had a vision of a 5 year project, but throughout the many ups and downs of running a restaurant over this period, a fear that the 5 years will be cut short and we’d have to close down prevailed.

Well we don’t have plans to close even though the ‘project’ has undergone many changes, endings & beginnings over this time. 

And then... on our 5 Year Birthday... it finally hit me!!

I can see now that the ‘5 year vision’ was never about the restaurant making it massive or failing, it was just a cycle of a certain genre of my own life which has been preparing me for the next & most important stage yet...

As you know, I’ve had 2 babies over these few years (really 4, because opening a cafe and publishing a book felt like giving birth in a way).

My focus has shifted mainly to my kids and how to help them grow into strong, healthy, happy humans with a big appetite for nourishing food and adventure.

I’ve been experimenting with healthy kids’ recipes and gathering winners for a couple of years now.

Finally, I’ll be able to share the collection with other parents in the form of eBooks, videos and coaching, very very soon. 

Nothing can take away this focus now. 

I’m seriously motivated to watch more children grow up super well and healthy and to witness more parents feel confident and well informed in their decision making when it comes to feeding their children.

So motivated in fact that I’ve recruited the most amazing intern to help me launch these projects and for Summer we've been busy testing and typing recipes in my kitchen as well as photographing kids of all ages enjoying them (so you can see proof that it's not only Lake's tastebuds :))


All this awesomeness will be ready to launch very very soon! 

Make sure that you're subscribed to our newsletter to be the first to know once we're LIVE >>

Firstly... THIS comment:

"Tanya Maher's cake was incredible- the first non beetroot tasting beetroot red velvet cake I've ever had - and want to make."

- Anna Mendonca after my demo at The Wellbeing Now Seminar

Secondly... THIS picture:

There's a very happy baby boy inside getting so many benefits from all the beetroot I've been feeding him... But seriously, how is THAT bump only 7 months? 

Thirdly... THESE benefits:

(Screenshot taken from @earthyandy post on Instagram. So perfectly timed as we're both pregnant and I was just starting to wonder why I'm enjoying beets so much lately)

Finally... Why are you still here reading and not making this beauty?

Oh and you do remember that THEEE SALE ends at 23:59 GMT tonight, right? Equipment, books, superfoods and supplements- up to 65% off!>>

RAW RED VELVET CAKE

For the red cake

3 cups almond meal (left from making milk out of 4-5 cups soaked almonds)*

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp  beetroot juice (from about 2 beets)**

8 medjool dates, de-stoned or 16 soft pitted dates

4 tbsp xylitol

3 tbsp cacao powder

½ vanilla pod, seeds only

½ tsp Himalayan salt

For the icing

2 cups cashews, soaked overnight

3/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup + 2 tbsp xylitol

juice of 1 lemon (4 tbsp)

½ vanilla pod, seeds only

For the optional decorations

goji berries

mulberries

edible flowers

*The prepared almond milk will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge and actually is an amazing accompaniment to this cake. Otherwise make superfood shakes or freeze in ice cube trays to use in smoothies later. I make my almond milk blending 1 cup soaked nuts + 2.5 or 3 cups water + 3 pitted dates + pinch salt, then straining.

**If you don’t have a juicer, use a blender. Blend up the beetroot and strain the juice through a nut bag/ cheese cloth. I blend approx. 3 small beets with 1/3 cups water.

-For the icing, firstly scrape out the seeds from a whole vanilla pod. To do so, slice the pod in half lengthwise, then use a teaspoon to literally scrape all the seeds out until the inside of the pod is dry.

-Blend all the icing ingredients till creamy. Transfer to the fridge while making the cake. (Be sure not to leave it there to solidify fully, we just want to cool it to a spreadable consistency).

-Process all the red cake ingredients in a food processor with an S blade.

-Now for the tricky/fun part: divide the red cake mixture into three equal parts, take one part and distribute it along the bottom of a 7 inch cake tin with a removable base (wrap the base in cling film), firmly pressing it down with your hand or a soft spatula. The trick here is not to spread a layer of icing and then add another layer of cake, as it will all turn into one big mess when you try and make a firm smooth layer of the cake again… so…

-Carefully remove the layer of cake with the base and flip it over onto a clean serving plate. Remove the metal base, then the cling film. Spread a layer of icing on top. Repeat this process of creating the red cake layer two more times, each time carefully removing it out of the cake tin, placing on top of the frosting layer and icing it again.

-When all three layers of red cake and icing are structured into a cake, use the remainder of the frosting to cover the sides of your cake, until the red colour is no longer peeking through.

-Decorate with berries / dried fruit of your choice.

-Place in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours to set, then slice with a sharp knife, wiping it clean with a paper towel in-between.

I discovered raw food not because I had a plethora of illnesses and this was my last resort. There was nothing wrong with me…

I was fit, my body was in top shape, I never had to worry about what I ate, my parents were knowledgeable in alternative therapies, I had an awesome job in property, I was young, popular, invincible – I was healthy.

Or so I thought.

Looking back at my life now, I can only picture a young girl living in complete denial.

I often ate a tub of ice cream or an entire block of chocolate instead of lunch and dinner, because I figured I should choose one to avoid overeating.

I partied ‘til dawn in clouds of second-hand smoke and thought of it as the best form of exercise.

I thought sleep was overrated.

My whole back was covered in repulsive acne, but who cares because I couldn’t see behind me and at the beach, it was easy to just sunbathe lying on it.

I would often get knife-piercing pain in my stomach, but I was the best long-distance runner I knew, so it didn’t matter.

I didn’t like my own reflection, but I could always grin or pull faces in photos to disguise what I thought was too round a face and too big a nose.

I would be bedridden whenever the seasons changed, but so was everyone else, so there is nothing wrong.

I even thought that a reflexologist who told me to change my diet immediately to save myself from emerging diabetes was mad because, surely, diabetes was only for people who were overweight?

And while others would turn to binging when it came to work- or relationship-related stress, I considered myself lucky for losing interest in eating when I was stressed, because I starved and got slimmer.

It took me a long time to unlearn these stories I’d been telling myself. It took me even longer to realise how well I’d mastered blocking out what needed attention, because of how well I’d blocked out one particular major event in my life…

The year 1999 was one to remember.

I survived my second year as a teenager, my second year in high school was almost over, my Russian accent had begun to sound more Kiwi (believe me, a foreign accent is a big deal when you’re an immigrant at school) and, for the first time, I was allowed to go away with my best friend for our joint birthday celebrations.

It was a rainy day, the road was long and winding, but it didn’t matter because I was with my bestie, we had lollies, hip-hop music to sing along to and the whole back of the car to ourselves.

Nothing was going to stop us from laughing and dancing, not even a safety belt that straps you tightly to your seat. We both pulled our seatbelts over our shoulders and under our arms, so we were secured only around our waists.

The next thing I remember is seeing a four-wheel drive head on, an unimaginable strike of sharp pain in my abdomen, followed by our car quickly filling with smoke and the struggle to open a jammed door, because I couldn’t possibly stay in a car that might blow up like in the movies.

I still have no idea whether it was five minutes or five hours between the car accident and being rushed to Auckland City Hospital by helicopters, although I do remember how fast the emergency crew chopped open my favourite checked blue trousers.

And amidst the uncontrollable pain through my stomach to my back, the haunting repetition of ambulance crew voices shouting something about a fractured spine, I still managed to wish that I was wearing better underwear.

Everyone in both vehicles survived the crash, but no one walked away injury free…

I broke my back and had to wear a full-body brace for four months. I still have a metal plate and screws joining my lower spine. My stomach was so badly bruised and swollen from the seatbelt (which also saved my life) that doctors proposed to remove my pancreas.

To make this hospital stay even more memorable, a catheter burst inside me, spreading an infection through my bladder, all while I was being pumped with an intense dose of morphine, to which my body reacted with intense hives.

My mum and dad went through so much stress and my entire focus turned to recovery, just to see these two favourite faces laughing again.

I tried hard to be a good girl and eat the mashed potatoes, ice cream and jelly they provided as hospital food, but my body would not keep them in. I remember being so angry at it for spewing up anything that went in.

My weight declined, as did all interest in food, until I couldn’t tolerate the thought of it.

Meanwhile, doctors were still waiting on my parents’ decision on whether or not to remove my pancreas.

Knowing that it was a key gland for proper digestion and hormone regulation, my wise family were determined to keep it intact.

We wanted to learn how to help my body to heal, but no one even knew about Google then, and raw food books certainly weren’t known of in the library, so we did what came naturally in the moment of despair- we used intuition.

Mum and dad asked me to imagine different foods and name those that didn’t immediately make me feel nauseous.

There were so many foods I craved, I was literally starving, but the only ones I could entertain of actually keeping in were peppermint tea, high-factor manuka honey and liquidised vegetables.

How clever our bodies are. Even in the most vulnerable state they know exactly what they need to survive.

I know now that my body, being so inflamed and sensitive, asked specifically for peppermint tea for its soothing properties, manuka honey for its antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal protection from hospital bugs, and raw carrot juice for its antioxidants, nutrients and enzymes, to support my healing pancreas.

My body knew that raw foods have the power to heal, it knew exactly which foods had the right nutrition for this healing and it was because of raw foods that I got to keep my pancreas – although I didn’t even realise it at the time.

Fast forward 10 years and it was, again, mum and dad who inspired me to tap onto that intuition and discover a calling within me so deep, it would bring positive meaning to all unfortunate past events. They read raw food expert Victoria Boutenko’s books and literally changed their entire diet overnight.

They got rid of the microwave, espresso machine and all the food in their pantry. They filled clear kitchen benches with alien equipment, the refrigerator with so much colour it looked like a kaleidoscope, and started dehydrating flax crackers as if they were stocking up for 21 December 2012.

It was awesome to see them so enthusiastic about a diet, but it’s not like I was about to start doing the same. After all, as you’ve heard, there was nothing ‘wrong’ with me.

It was also around this time that my husband, Elliot, and I started dating, and I was more interested in showing off my cooking repertoire than rolling energy balls.

But my curiosity was already ignited.

I watched my parents shed weight, start to look younger, glow from within, sleep less and do more exciting things with their days, all with an enormous amount of energy and enthusiasm. I had to get my hands on that book!

It was when I read ‘Green for Life’ and the collection of testimonials from people who had reversed all manner of illnesses (from diabetes, heart conditions, obesity, asthma, chronic fatigue and cancer) with raw food that I made an important connection – that I had also healed my body, all those years ago, with raw food.

It occurred to me that if we can heal disease with raw food, surely we can prevent it too. Now we’re talking!

What I read in Boutenko’s book made sense – as soon as you apply heat to foods, they shrivel up, vitamins and minerals diminish, antioxidants and proteins are halved and enzymes vital for digestion die entirely. Our bodies then spend all their efforts on digesting the mineral-depleted foods and leave us with little energy for anything else.

What didn’t make sense is why so few people knew about the raw power of plants.

And in this I found my calling.

I immediately began making green smoothies for our breakfast. I loved to cook and experiment with foods, so was in no hurry to change our meals, but my taste buds began to long for more greens throughout the day.

Without even thinking about it, I reached for a salad instead of a sandwich at lunchtime and filled half our dinner plates with fresh raw vegetables.

I thought I had really lost it the day I salivated over spinach at a supermarket and came home without commercial chocolate.

I was loving the new flavours our fresh diet had to offer, as well as all the benefits I detected- increased energy, focus and intuition, glowing skin and sparkling eyes, healing acne, and strong hair and nails. Most of all, I loved how much fun I was having in the kitchen.

With so much attention paid to feeling awesome, it wasn’t until later that I realised how my painful stomach cramps never returned, my headaches had diminished, my teeth stopped getting cavities, and how flu and colds became a thing of the past.

I knew I couldn’t keep all of this to myself, so as soon as we moved to London, I went knocking on yoga centre and restaurant doors offering to run lunchtime classes, got kitted up with equipment, started blogging recipes, selling green smoothies and raw chocolate at market stalls, joined raw food networking groups and attended any health-related workshop I could find.

I began coaching clients. This allowed me to witness the countless benefits of raw foods among athletes, expectant mothers, young professionals and the newly retired.

Yet, I wanted to go deeper.

My intention was never to transform the world’s diet to eating all raw, I simply wanted to raise awareness of the benefit of eating plants and my mission became helping people to experience the incredible vitality I was thriving with.

I really wanted for everyone to feel in control of their own energy and health again.

I really really wanted to help others tap into that time of youth when they felt invincible, free and full of joy. I wanted them to know how possible it is to feel like that all the time!

I longed for people to break free from the hypnosis that the traditional medicine, dairy industry and government bodies put us under.

I dreamed of a world where people didn’t have to suffer and where they believed that vibrant health was their birth-right.

So badly I wished for people to feel ALIVE again.

I knew that all of this was pretty BIG and that I couldn’t do it on my own. The thing is I didn’t know where to begin either. So, I did what I knew works - I sat my butt down on a meditation cushion and literally asked to be shown the way.

What happened right after- changed everything.

I opened myself up for possibilities and asked for a clear sign. By the time I heard of The Institute for Integrative Nutrition from three different people in the week right after my meditation, I knew it was the sign I couldn’t ignore.

I was still paying off my student loan for the Bachelor of Property so wasn’t into the idea of getting into more debt. But, all signs pointed towards going for it, so I borrowed from my parents and enrolled on the year-long journey of online education.

I thought I was just signing up to qualify as a Holistic Health Coach and be a better counsellor to my current clients, so they can experience everything I dreamed up for them, but I got so much more.

The same year that I was getting my mind blown from all the powerful realisations and my neck muscles exercised from all the nodding, while listening to lectures on my iPhone, was the year some pretty wonderful things were happening in the background..

I remained open for miracles and then after five years together, Elliot proposed.

I remained open for miracles and met with my dream publisher, who would later publish my book.

I remained open for miracles and began coaching a dream client, with whom I would soon open my café.

I remained open for miracles and became IIN’s chosen ambassador, which meant that I had the power to offer my readers some amazing discounts to this life-changing course, getting more and more people to spread the ripple effect.

Suddenly my big dream didn’t seem so far-fetched.

The thing is- I didn’t have to work hard to ‘remain open’. The beauty of the program is that on top of teaching you how to be the best coach to your clients and especially to yourself, it teaches you about nutrition, bio-individuality and how some diets work for some and why not for others, but more importantly, it teaches you how to manifest.

The entire course is designed to help you be the healthiest person you know and to live your very best life. Guiding you to remain open for miracles and manifest dreams into reality is very much on the agenda!

So, if you even for a second thought that this course might-be-just-ever-so-slightly-a-tiny-bit interesting, I invite you to do the following:

1. Register your name and email below or here so I can forward you a FREE sample class and a FREE copy of my eBook ‘One Day Raw- a Beginner’s Guide to Living Foods’.
2. Add 2PM EST / 7PM GMT Friday 20^thApril to your calendar and watch me LIVE as I visit the IIN offices in New York! (I’ll send you a direct link to this FB Live on the day)
3. Remain open for miracles.

And, if you feel this is YOUR sign to do the course and you are ready to register for the next class beginning 7^th MAY, then here’s what you’ll get as a BONUS for registering:

1. A 25% discount or an interest-free payment plan.
2. A FREE copy of my eBook ‘Purified-Your Complete 7 Day Detox Program’.
3. A parcel in the mail containing my book ‘The Uncook Book- The Essential Guide to a Raw Food Lifestyle’, and a collection of Tanya’s dehydrated snacks- BBQ Spiced Activated Nuts, Detox Dust Activated Seeds, Cheezy Kale Chips, Coconut Chips and Coconut Jerky.

To qualify for all the bonuses, call my friends at IIN on (877) 733-1628 for US or +1 (212) 730-5433 for International and be sure to mention my name (Tanya Maher). Ask them if you can start on May 7^th and I’ll be in touch with the rest!

Wow that wasn’t a long post at all. Haha.

Love you!

xTanya

Last month, my sweet little sis-in-law and I did a 1 Day Juice Cleanse, I posted everything Live in Instagram stories and couldn't believe the response!

So many of you wrote telling me how keen you are to do the same at home, asking for exact recipes and any other helpful tips I could spare.

So, I've typed out your recipes, your plan and your shopping list, I've included a few bits and pieces I thought would be most important to do before, during and after a mini detox, and even uploaded a compilation of those stories from IG in one handy video below...

Enjoy!

[If the video doesn't show up for you, watch it on YourTube here: https://youtu.be/Bm54366zsak] 

If your digestion isn’t in order, the chances are you also experience at least two of these symptoms:

-Bloating

-Tiredness

-Heart burn or indigestion

-Food allergies

-Nausea

-Skin breakouts

-Skin conditions like eczema, rosacea, acne or psoriasis 

-Weight gains

-Constipation or loose stools

-Flatulence or belching

-Parasites or Candida

-Weak nails and hair

Poor digestion is awful and sadly unless something is done about it, it may only get worse with time.

Have you ever said...

“I used to be able to eat anything” or 

“I never had to exercise to stay in shape” or

“My baby weight never went away” or

“My digestion is not what it used to be”?

[Personally, I’m guilty of all the above, especially when I have the below reference taken circa 2013.]

If you want something done about this digestion of yours (btw it’s not the same as metabolism- you can eliminate quickly and stay slim but it still doesn’t mean that you’re making the most out of your food and assimilating the goodness), the first thing you must do is begin eating consciously.

Easier said than done? 

Nope, it’s very very easy to do. Continue reading for my top tip that works every single time and is actually fun...

But first I’d like to paint you a picture of what happens when you DON’T eat consciously.

I bet there’s been a time that you’ve taken your sandwich to your desk and swallowed it so fast, you weren’t sure if you even tasted it, let alone felt any satisfaction. 

You certainly were a bit annoyed at yourself for spending money on yet another lunch you don’t remember eating. 

I mean- how did it disappear from your plate? Wait, maybe someone played a trick on you and you haven’t even taken a bite! Mmmm maybe not.

Suddenly you feel bloated. Dissatisfied, irritated and bloated. Awesome combo.

What actually happened when you swallowed that sandwich is that it got dumped into your stomach without any warning, without the host having a chance to get the space ready for it, in fact it squashed the host unconscious, confused the whole digestive system so it stopped operating altogether. Your body’s alarm went off to send signals of there being something wrong and the only way it knew to communicate that was by making you bloat.

You didn’t respond to those cries so it gave you a headache.

You blocked out the headache with a painkiller so it gave you visible red patches on your neck and breakouts on your chin.

You covered them up with concealer so it gave you extra love handles you couldn’t cover up.

You told yourself that next time you’ll just skip lunch to which you immediately felt an inflammation response.

Now your joints hurt.

WTF? Surely that’s got nothing to do with a sandwich!

And why do you feel so tired when food is supposed to give you energy?

Now let’s rewind for a moment and try that again...

You unwrap your sandwich, feeling good within yourself that you got up to go out and buy it, feeling proud that you got at least a little movement into your day.

You start to breathe deeper with that thought of gratitude.

In turn you begin to relax and even get a whiff of the deliciousness you’re about to enjoy.

You begin to salivate.

You take a small bite and you chew chew chew.

Your brain then sends the message to your stomach (the host) that food is coming so it starts to tidy up and pump out the welcoming mat (hydrochloride acid).

The food slides down with joy, lands not in a dry sad desert but a fun pool of digestive juices.

It breaks down effortlessly, without the need for your body to spend any more precious energy, so you feel like you have lots of energy to actually do some work.

Minerals, nutrients and vitamins then spark into fireworks that go straight to the cells which need them most, while the remains take a different route towards easy elimination.

No arguments, no confusion, no need for setting off any alarms, everyone knows their role and they get on with doing their thing so you can get on with doing your thing.

So next time you’d like scene #2 instead, next time you’d prefer to feel alive, energised, relaxed, bloat free and happy within yourself for eating consciously, try this tip:

Imagine that while you’re eating that sandwich, a hidden camera is projecting your every move onto a National News channel! Your face is on everyone’s screen for millions to watch you eat. 

The Royal family watch the news too, you know :)

P.S. I touch on the topic of digestion and often discuss it in depth at every single one of my workshops. You can bet that I'll be covering this topic in the next classes 'Easy raw lunches that kids will love' and 'How to eat for beautiful skin'. All classes can be booked via this link: https://tanyasliving.com/collections/workshops-and-events