How beautiful is Edinburgh!! I mean this is not supposed to come out as a question, it is a pure statement on my behalf, but I'm not about to get over it any time soon- how beautiful is that little city with its enchanting structures and surprising abundance of greenery!

Loving the Royal Mile

I say pretty stunning and I was over the moon to be going there with a group of nine friends to see the All Blacks [rugby team] show the world what New Zealand is all about!

Small confession... as much as I support New Zealand all the way, it is official- I am just not a rugby woman. I’ve tried, I really have, over my 14 years in New Zealand, I tried to watch it on TV, to attend games, learn some players names, familiarise myself with the scoring system and what on earth the line out and scrums are (even though I did manage to go through High School thinking it was called a ‘scrub’- see what I mean?).

With Elliot at the Edinburgh Castle

When it comes to rugby, I am all Russian! So when in Edinburgh I parted with the rest of the group for a short while, as they cheered on our champions and went wondering the charming streets on my own, well ok- shops.

But you won’t imagine how hard my guilt swallowed me whole, as the very next day at the airport we saw the ENTIRE rugby team come through the departure gates one by one and I was the one asking everyone’s favourite players for a group picture with us! I believe that is also ‘So Russian’, accept maybe for the feeling guilty part (that’s just me).

From left: Gareth, Reece, Mel, Chris, Ben, Nick, BRAD THORN &DAN CARTER, Me, Kirsty, Elliot, Tim



Kirsty and I with a very handsome All Blacks captain Richie McCaw

I would like to make a special point here, that Richie put his arm around me First (!!) and then I got to touch his back.. his wonderful, strong solid back... perhaps I could be a rugby supporter afterall :)


Right! What is this blog about again? Recipes! Richie.. I mean Rugby.. I mean Raw Food!! This recipe is good, really good! I made it first thing as we got back home, because Edinburgh was so ridiculously cold and I was left with no choice, but come up with a very satisfying, comforting and warming Winter Recipe, which very quickly made it right to the top of my favourites:


For the mushrooms
10 x Medium Chestnut mushrooms
8 x Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 x Tbsp Tamari
4 x Tbsp Lemon Juice (or juice of 1 whole lemon)
4 x Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 x Garlic cloves, minced

-Prep the mushrooms: carefully wiggle out the stalks and peel back the skin to reveal a white surface
-Gently pierce the surface with a tip of a knife, so marinade soaks in more evenly
-Lay the mushrooms flat in a container with the gills facing up. Careful not to pile them on top of each other or you will require much more marinade
-Mix all other ingredients in a bowl and pour over the mushrooms
-Ensure every part of the mushroom is coated well, lightly shaking the container or dipping them with your hands. Don’t worry if there is not enough marinade for the mushrooms to swim in, as long as each side has been wetted, they can now sit to soak in the juices from the bottom
- Leave to marinade at room temperature overnight

For the Basil Pesto
3 x packed Cups Basil
1 x Cup Macadamia nuts
1 x Cup Pinenuts
4 x Tbsp Lemon juice
3 x Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 x Garlic cloves, minced
1 x tsp Sea salt

-Process the basil leaves in the food processer with an S blade
-Pulse in the macadamia nuts, not too fine so you have texture to your pesto
-Add the pine nuts and pulse
-Add the rest of ingredients, scrape everything of the sides of the processer and onto the blade. Pulse again
-Scoop mixture out with your hands forming into balls and place inside the mushroom caps
-To serve warm: place in the dehydrator on 105degrees F for two hours before serving or for half an hour in a warmed oven (which has been switched off before mushrooms go in)

Watch how to prepare this effortlessly...

If I had to choose a word to describe Turkey, just one single word, if it was even possible, if I had no other option and my life depended on it, it would be nothing other than ‘quintessence’.



I am not one to idealise anything, but I do know what an ideal vacation involves and Turkey had the exact essence of perfection. Whether it was something I needed at the time or truly is a heavenly oasis doesn’t really matter, what I know is that it made its way right to my heart, put a spell over me, got me dreaming about it at night and that I will be back!



Ten days of bathing in joy, Elliot and I spent most of our time on the beaches of beautiful Antalya, took boat trips and tours to the ancient ruins of Olympos, calcium and mineral rich waters of Pumukkale (wow!!!), finishing off with vibrancy of Istanbul.



Turkey has so much to offer, its soul so rich with history, topography plentiful of diversity, skies full of stories, sea water heavenly and the food- the food so... nourishing. That was certainly the last thing I expected, as hunting around for a healthy bite is usually the biggest and often the only challenge on a holiday. There was of cause the opposite option, but because there was even AN option at all was a miracle and not only that, there was more than just an option, much much more!


Our hotel dinner alone had (and yes I counted) 14 different varieties of salads for dinner. Fourteen! Everywhere you turn, you can get a freshly squeezed orange juice or pomegranate juice and for breakfast (much to Elliot’s disapproval and my delight) we figured it must be their custom to serve a plate of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. I was in Raw Food heaven.

Speaking of Raw Food and the country that influenced me in such a big way, I came home with more than just an inspiration to create the first ever ['first ever' because there is NOTHING on the Internet for me to copy :)] Raw Food Turkish Delight. I came back with a determination to give back at least a little for being given so much.


It wasn’t exactly easy. A traditional Turkish Delight is mainly sugar and cornstarch after all. The cornstarch is what gives it that gooey gummy bear texture, so since that was not an option I had to settle for the fruits with pectin to create a jam like thickness and Agar Agar for a jelly (jello to my American friends) like consistency.

The outcome- scrumptious! Not exactly like a traditional Turkish Delight I won’t lie, but in my opinion WAY better and I will choose it over the traditional any day even if I wasn’t health conscious...




1 Tbsp Agave
½ Cup water
1 Tbsp Agar Agar flakes
½ cup hazelnuts (or your favourite nuts)

Optional: Lukuma powder for coating




Ingredients

8 Medjool Dates
½ Cup Orange Juice
1 Tbsp Agave
½ Cup water
1 Tbsp Agar Agar flakes
½ cup hazelnuts (or your favourite nuts)

Optional: Lukuma powder for coating



-For Blueberry Delight: Blend blueberries, dates and agave until smooth
-For Fruity Delight: Blend dates and orange juice to a creamy paste

-Boil the water and let the flakes sit in it for 5 minutes

-Bring the water to boil again and gently simmer until all the flakes dissolve completely

-Add to the ingredients already in the blender and blend

-Manually mix with hazelnuts and transfer into a small container (I had mine lined with plastic wrap so I can easily pull the contents out later)

-Let it set overnight in the fridge, but if you prefer a ‘prettier’ outcome freeze for an hour and slice up into even squares and coat in Lukuma powder

[to see what I mean about 'prettier' just look at photo with the Blueberry Delight that has only been in the fridge and compare to the evenly cubed Fruity Delight, that has been frozen]

It has been nearly one month since my last post. Shame on me! Shame especially because I have been planning to post this important information on Calcium in Dairy, Soy and Nut Milks ever since I spoke about it at this year’s Festival of Life event.

[Festival of Life is the largest annual Raw Vegan event in Europe and this year there were 68 presentations and workshops from amazing inspiring speakers, 100 eco vegan stalls and an uplifting conscious dance party]

I was overwhelmed at how many turned up to my lecture and when there were not enough chairs, were even willing to stand or sit on the floor for the entire duration. And no wonder- Calcium seems to be THEE topic at the moment with Dairy consumption going up, but osteoporosis not even budging to decrease for a moment. In fact its getting worse, much worse.

I was glad to hear David Wolfe also speak in depth about this issue at his ‘Best Ever You’ Event when he was in London just last week. That's me with the Nutrition Superstar himself...



WHAT DO I NEED FOR STRONG BONES?

• Calcium as you’ve all heard, but that is part of the solution
• Bones are made of 12+ minerals, not just one
• Osteoporosis is defined as ‘loss of minerals from bones’, not ‘calcium deficiency’
• The right calcium- supplements are NOT the answer. In fact if you heard David Wolfe speak of bad calcification, you already know that by taking calcium supplements and eating calcium ‘enriched’ foods, you’ll build up excess of it in your system coupled with mineral deficiencies and imbalances that will cause plaque in arteries, thyroid hormone resistance, kidney stones, gallstones, osteoarthritis, obesity, Type 2 diabetes and the list goes on.
• Vitamin D- important to absorb the calcium, now all we need is the sun (pleeease London)
• Exercise- the more the bone is stressed, the more calcium is absorbed from the bloodstream, the more rigid structures are formed in bone cells creating the bone matrix and the stronger the bone gets

SO DAIRY MILK THEN?

Clue #1- We are the ONLY species that drink milk from another species. Have you thought of that before?
Clue #2- We are also the ONLY species drinking milk past infancy. Lovely
Clue #3- Dairy consumption is on the increase, but so is Osteoporosis
Clue #4- Dairy is the largest industry in the world bringing some serious cash to the economy, would our governments then ever tell us the truth?



I’m not done :) Most calcium in dairy is wrapped in casein (used in industrial glue and pain thickeners). To split casein and get to the calcium we need rennet. This enzyme is produced in stomachs of young mammals, but as for humans- only for the very FIRST month of our lives!