'Oopse she did it again!' It was yet another solid year of rocking it out on the throne, this time totalling a great big celebratory SIX ZERO!

Our Queen is an inspiration, so I wanted to do something extra special for her Diamond Jubilee by making her this gorgeous Raw (dah!) Union Jack Cake:


Queen Elizabeth has forgiven us for doing press ups on her garden lawn  a couple of summers ago and absolutely loved the cake! And so did her family below :)

Elliot's parents were visiting us from New Zealand, so we had our very own Royal Party. From left to right: Harry- that'll be moi; Prince Charles- Elliot; Duke of Edinburgh- Richard (dad); The Queen- Adele (mum); William- Matt; Kate- Jen.


And back to the cake.
Here are the step by step instructions to make your very own...


For the base
2 portions of my Fudge Brownie recipe (base only, no icing)

For the icing
2 Cups cashews, soaked overnight
2 Lemons, juiced
1/2 Cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/3 Cup agave nectar
1/4 Beetroot juice (about 1 medium beet; make like this if no juicer)
1 tsp Spirulina powder

For the equipment & extras
Blueberries
Raspberries
Desiccated coconut
Union Jack stensil (or purchased flag)
Blender
Food processor
Optional: 17 x 31 cm cake base



Blend the cashews, lemon juice, coconut oil and agave, using a tamper/pulse until creamy.
Scoop about a third into a separate bowl to keep for the white portion of icing.
Add beetroot juice to the blender and blend (or manually stir, like in the image below)
Scoop half out to another bowl to keep for the red portion of icing.
Add the spirulina to the remaining red mixture and blend to make a purplish colour for the 'blue' portion of icing.


Prepare the brownie mixture using my Raw Food Fudge Brownie base recipe.
Double the portion, or your cake will be far too thin.
I used a 17 x 31 cm granite serving plate, but you can use a small chopping board or just a plate.


Make yourself a Union Jack stencil.
If you are in UK- just buy a cheap plastic flag available in many convenience stores.
Using the blunt side of a knife- press into each line to imprint the flag design onto the cake.


When you take the flag away, check that all the lines are there.
It's easy to get some out of proportion, so just smooth the line or two out with your finger and redo.


Begin to frost by colouring in the white parts first.
Use a butter knife like a painting brush and don't rush.
Continue by colouring in with red, keeping a picture of a Union Jack near for reference.


Continue now by filling the remaining triangles with the purple frosting.
[Blue is a primary colour, so it is pretty tricky to create from scratch. Purple was my best outcome]
Use the very tip of your knife to create sharp corners with the colours.


If you are not using berries- your cake is now ready!
Keep it in the fridge.


I just looooove berries and think they make any dessert extra special, so I used raspberries and blueberries for the respective colours on the flag.
The raspberries were a bit big, so I set them into the middle red cross part only.


Be sure to use the smallest blueberries first for each corner of the blue flag part.
Take a pinch of desiccated coconut and very carefully sprinkle it over the white.
Tada! Store in the fridge for up to 7 days.

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It's so easy to eat raw food when the sun is out, isn't it? (Or at least that's what I keep hearing from you all winter long.) But I'll tell you what's not easy... that's rollerblading backwards!



Honestly I don't even remember the last time I rollerbladed forwards, before last Friday. Was it five years ago? Six? Seven? Times flies. Luckily for me, it's been just as long for Britney, in case you haven't guessed it yet by our intense safety gear!



We discovered a Skate Hire shop near Marble Arch tube and flew through hours of Hyde Park thrills. What a way to spend a Friday afternoon! Triple recommend to all!


Britney was also on my Acid Alkaline Breakthrough program with me, so we finished the day off with a pH balanced salad.


Recipe below:





For the salad
2 Large carrots
Big handful snow peas
1 Courgette/Zucchini
1 Sweet potato
1 Avocado
1 Mango
1 Kiwi fruit
1/2 Cucumber
Salad greens

For the dressing
1 Cup Brazil nut milk (made the same as Almond milk)
3 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
1 Red bell pepper, chopped
1 Lemon, juiced
1 Garlic clove
1/2 Red onion
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/3 tsp Himalayan salt

For the optional topping
My pesto (I made this one with soaked sunflower seeds instead of nuts)
Basil leaves

-Chop, slice, dice or spiral the salad ingredients any way you like to eat them (Hint: I make mine all kinds of shapes and sizes for more excitement- I spiralised the zucchini and sweet potato, thinly diced the carrots and snow peas into strips, and chopped the rest of ingredients into cubes).

-Blend all the dressing ingredients and pour them over salad in a large bowl. Mix.

-Serve with a side of fresh green leaves and top with optional pesto.

As we enter the season of dinner parties, summer picnics and social get-togethers - healthy eating suddenly shoots up to the top of our priory list - as this also happens to be the season of boardies and bikinis! Yussssss.

But eating the right type of foods is usually where it stops for many of us... it's not like we were ever taught at school that what you do or more importantly DON'T do after dinner can have just as much effect on your metabolism and digestion as the food you eat.

Of course I am not only talking dinner, but any and every meal all through the day. Here are my...


1. DON'T drink liquids, especially cold water. Water will solidify the fats and oils you have just consumed and arrest digestion. Think of what happens to warmed liquid butter if you pour in into a jug of cold water- it solidifies and doesn't move.

2. DON'T eat fruit. Fruit should be eating on an empty stomach and on its own, as it is such a great cleanser and doesn't require long to digest. Mix it with anything else (like your dinner which is trying be digested) and it will sit on top, fermenting and rotting, making you bloated and gassy.

3. DON'T loosen your trousers. This sudden release could twist your intestines and block the natural movement of food.

4. DON'T smoke! Not that I would recommend smoking at any other time, but apparently having a cigarette right after eating increases the chances of cancer even more, as it becomes equivalent to ten whole cigarettes.

5. DON'T have dessert. The sugar will stay in your body for longer, sitting on top the meal, fermenting, acidifying the system and feeding any present candida. If you are going to have dessert, have it before the meal so that at least the saliva you produce will promote more digestive juices in the stomach for when dinner arrives.

6. DON'T drink coffee or black tea. Both have high amounts of acids, that make the protein (in any form) that we consume harder to digest.

7. DON'T sauna, bathe or bikram. High heat increases the blood to flow to the hands and legs, thus away from the stomach area, where it's required the most for proper digestion.

8. DON'T go to sleep. When we sleep, we relax and everything slows down, including the body's work and digestion. This can lead to gastric issues and infection in the intestines, as well as acid reflux.


Do you have a 'DON'T after dinner' that I've missed? Please share in the comments below...



Would you like to use this article? I'll be my pleasure! Please add this at the end:

Tanya Alekseeva is a wellness coach, chef, author, and a renowned raw food and detox expert. She healed herself with raw fruits and vegetables at the age of fourteen after a near fatal car accident damaged her internal organs. Born in Russia, raised in New Zealand and now based out of London, she travels nationally and internationally to provide seminars, workshops, retreats, detox programs and one-to-one coaching, to educate and ensure busy individuals achieve their most desired wellbeing and ultimate health objectives. She is the founder of Better Raw, creator of 'Raw Food 101' DVD, author of numerous eBooks, as well as a FR*EE report '15 World's Healthiest Foods' available on www.BetterRaw.com 

See you lat-ER, dehydrate-OR!...
I have a new favourite recipe that doesn't require all that waiting around :)

Don't you just love it when you come up with a recipe by total chance? Not any recipe either, but one you are totally surprised about and super pleased with?

This raw food burger was a complete chance for me, as I usually use a whole variation of vegetables, seeds, spices, planning and not to mention time to dehydrate a meal- none of which I had available this day!

I was due for a grocery shop to get some fresh produce and just threw some sun dried tomatoes and sunflower seeds in warm water to soak quickly so I could have them for lunch, next thing I was doing is eating a delicious and hearty burger patty that didn't even make it to the dehydrator. Here's the recipe...


For the burger
2 Cups sundried tomatoes, soaked*
1,5 Cups sunflower seeds, soaked*
3 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp to sprinkle  chia seeds
1 Tbsp hot madras curry powder (mine is a mix of coriander, turmeric, mustard, chilli, bengal gram (black chickpea), cumin, fenugreek, black pepper, garlic powder, salt, fennel)

For the extras
Cashew soured cream (blend of soaked cashews, water and lemon juice)
Avocado
Cucumbers
Lettuce leaves

*Note #1: soak in pure cold water for 2-8 hours or for just 1-2 hours in warmed water
*Note #2: this recipe is for dry salted sun dried tomatoes, if using sun dried tomatoes preserved in oil, drain the oil well and add Himalayan sea salt to the recipe
-Drain the water from sun dried tomatoes and sunflower seeds
-Process all the burger ingredients in your food processor until desired consistency ( I like a few chunks to chew on, so I only processed enough to mix the ingredients, you may prefer a smoother paste like patty instead).
-Roll the whole mixture into a tube and cut into equal sized slices.
-Smooth out each slice into a perfect patty using your hands and coat the tops in chia seeds by sprinkling or dabbing into a plate full of chia.
-Serve as is with the extras, dehydrate for 5 hours for a dense patty or serve warmed up in the oven (heated, but turned off).