According to the Blue Zones researches, only 20% of your potential to live a long life is down to your genes and the other 80% is to do with your environment. For those not familiar with Blue Zones research, this is research conducted on the areas of the world with the greatest longevity – called The Blue Zones. These hot spots include Okinawa (the Japanese Hawaii), Sardinia (Italy); Nicoya (Costa Rica); Icaria (Greece); and among the Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, California. The studies offer an explanation, based on empirical data and first hand observations, as to why these populations live healthier and longer.
Read moreHome-grown hummus
It’s a rainy day so a good time to create dishes without feeling like you are missing out (FOMO gets everywhere).
Last month I was gifted a large amount of home-grown vegetables. Included in the midst was a bag of cannellini beans. I love the process of shelling peas and beans, especially out in the garden under a big summer sky. It reminds me of childhood so I like to re-enact this with my own kids, feels like history repeating itself in the best way; quality time spent together in a simple act of growing stuff.
Read moreComfort Food on a Cloudy Day
It’s not the end of summer but ‘tis feeling a little autumnal. Having had a welcome supply of freshly grown vegetables from visiting relatives I feel the urge to cook something warming but not too wintry. Onion soup – whether it’s French or from where-ever doesn’t really matter – loads of flavour, lots of anti-oxidants, high in vitamin C and fibre. A welcome change from salad and a great way to use up the meat broth cooked up from the last BBQ.
Read moreKeep Cool with Melon Ice
It's hot, hot, hot. Tempting to head for the ice-cream van but there are plenty of cooling options that may well hit the spot.
My current favourite is melon ice. Whizz up half a honeydew melon, a handful of seedless green grapes, juice from half a lime and add enough crushed ice and water to make a juicy consistency.
Not only delicious but you could be cutting around 25 g of sugar by avoiding that Vanilla cone.
French Style Cooking
Tricky times - it’s hard to know what to do in the face of such utterly shocking news. Be calm, resolute, eat, live.
A dish in support of French culture, a recipe received today from my French host and superb chef, Sylvianne, after a trip to Avignon last month.
Read moreMother and Child
“She squinted upwards to make out the image of the stained glass above. Mary, clothed in swaths of brilliant blue raised her hands, nervously it seemed, as her child was passed to her. The large upstretched hands fascinated Sylvie. They were clumsy and inexperienced, placed awkwardly in a gesture of hesitancy.
Joseph stood in the background his presence seeming merely incidental. His face held an anguished expression. Parenthood: this was clearly a colossal undertaking”.
This is a quotation from the first chapter of Balloon Girl (available as an e-book on Amazon http://amzn.to/29rZNV6)
Read moreSlow Down you Move too Fast
A 10 ten road trip through France last month proved pretty spectacular in many ways. Driving 1500 miles in an MX5 with your dad, may for some be a test of resilience and patience. But no, what I experienced was warmth, laughter, a passion for the wide empty road and complete tolerance of my loud singing to Fleetwood Mac and Simon & Garfunkel.
Read moreBalloon Girl by Belle Amatt
Spot the difference between these images. The image below fits our expectations as ‘heroine of our novel’. She floats so effortlessly with her fragile frame, her tiny arm gripping so tightly to the balloons. There is something so delicate and vulnerable about the Balloon Girl in this print.
But she is not our heroine, for Sylvie is an over-weight child who is intrigued and tormented by the print which hangs on the wall in her room. She wishes that she could float away so boundless and free.
Read moreSunny Sweetcorn Summer Yum
Pre-schoolers and young schoolers can be tricky to feed at times; maintaining that five a day may require a certain level of creativity.
Whilst reading the brilliant Blue Zones newsletter I came across some research which backs up my theory that it’s all about how you sell the concept of vegetable eating which gets the veggies where they need to be.
Read moreBeetiful Dip recipe and Health Benefits
Using beetroot in cooking adds a fabulous anti-oxidant hit as well as being visually stimulating. There are lots of reported benefits especially in the area of heart health. Reportedly, it is the high nitrate levels which offer such cardiovascular support and may offer a low cost and effective way to reduce high blood pressure.
As I’m currently researching a lecture on ageing, I am also interested in dementia and how this condition may be benefitted by the use of super-foods.
Read moreCheesy Doritos dipped in Soup - not always seeing eye to eye on kid's nutrition
Last week, when one of my kid’s was looking peaky, I put together a wholesome tomato soup. Using plentiful onions and garlic, peppers of all colours, the sneaky courgette which she hates and a wealth of juicy tomatoes the end result was brimming over with anti-oxidants. The red split lentils were cooked well for the best level of camouflage and herbs were snipped into fragments.
To make it further appealing, I cut up fat wedges of her favourite bread and produced some garlicky croutons to go with. But not too many as, of course, the bread is the first thing to go at the detriment of soup eating.
So we were enjoying our soup, engaged in some hearty family conversation, when the croutons run out. A grown up member of the family reached into the pantry to grab half a bag of cheesy Doritos which had been stealthily stashed behind the bread-bin. The contraband is then passed around the table for dipping purposes.
Read moreCacao with a hint of Chilli Granola - How to...
I loved the whole process of making this and the flexibility to adapt to your own taste entirely. Kam Alive cacao powder which we discovered when perusing a market in St. Albans gives a delightful little kick and may be the factor which gets the kids involved in the creative process. I added a hint of chilli after watching that 2000 classic film 'Chocolat' at the weekend in which the combination of cacao and chilli have wondrous effects on a sleepy French town!
Read moreMindful but in a Hurry Herby Quinoa Salad
Thrown together in under 30 minutes
We all know that quinoa is fabulous. This is not ground breaking news. Quinoa is naturally gluten-free and contains a great range of nutrients including iron, B-vitamins, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, vitamin E and fibre.
It is one of only a few plant foods that are considered a complete protein. So it’s a brilliant food for vegetarians who would like to up their protein intake in the absence of meat.
But let’s also get to grips with how easy it is to chuck together.
Read moreIt's the Tail End of IBS Month
According the NHS statistics, there are around 6 million people suffering with IBS in the UK. This figure of course only represents the people who have sought help from their GP therefore the overall figure will be way beyond.
Read moreRespect for each other, Food and Love
“Families who eat together stay together”. I have come across this saying frequently over the last few years. Certainly from experience of working with families in my mission to implant or reignite a love of food, those who eat together on a regular basis tend to have more exploratory little eaters.
Read moreSuper Food Pesto
We learnt during my lecture at the weekend that the humble coriander plant can be considered a ‘superfood’ alongside all the more fashionable options such as Goji berries and cacao.
Read moreBrain Freeze Smoothie
It’s Wednesday, 2.30 pm and I have writer’s block. I’m craving a caffeine shot but need some thinking power that is going to last the distance. Scanning the pantry I’m thinking through brain foods so grab a packet of walnuts, some quick fix date syrup, almond milk and a beautifully ripe avocado. There’s a frozen banana in the fridge (be prepared…Girl Scout lessons remain invaluable decades on).
Read moreThe Queen and the Little Prince
Few song lyrics affected my adolescence (a phase I’m still hanging on to) as much as Prince’s 1999 line “Everybody’s got a bomb / We could all die any day / But before I’ll let that happen / I’ll dance my life away.” This, as a teen, I took extremely seriously and by the late 1990’s had certainly done my fair share of dancing.
How does Prince’s untimely death make us feel in terms of our quest for longevity? Is it telling that a rock-star dies so young on the same day that the Queen celebrates her 90th birthday?
Read moreRed Wine, A Super Food or are we Fooling Ourselves?
Whilst researching super-foods this week for a lengthy lecture at CNM I see that red wine does not feature on the slides. It is too controversial a topic for sure for generic super-food training.
Advising that red wine could act as a protective dietary factor for one person could be beneficial however, for another it is a green light to get sloshed on a daily basis. There are so many great anti-oxidant alternatives to wine – do we really need it?
Read moreGo Nuts
I do believe that a small handful of unsalted nuts every day is a great addition to a wholesome diet. Packed with protein, fibre and essential fats, if used correctly nuts can be hugely beneficial. In moderation they make a great snack, especially as a replacement to crisps or other processed items.
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