Fighting fit again - I hope!

Wow, you have no idea how good it feels to be able to eat again - and now I am finding it hard to stop!  Weeks without even seeing the foods I loved, then another two weeks of being able to look at them but not eat them was torture.  So now I am making up for lost time.  And on top of that tomorrow I fly out to Poznan, Poland to race in the FISA World Masters Rowing Championships - so I have been needing to build myself up for the last few days (or is that an excuse I just gave myself?!) - no food is safe!

Interestingly, although I work with food all day, people  constantly suggest that I must hate having to cook for myself when I get home each night?  It intrigues me that they may think I would pick up a ready-meal, or maybe , horror of horrors, a take-away.  Why would I do that when I love great food, care what I put into my body and most of all, find cooking the best way to relax at the end of the day?  Creating something from simple ingredients that looks and tastes amazing and then having the pleasure of eating it, cannot be beaten in my book.

And nothing could be simpler than placing halves of peaches in an ovenproof dish, sprinkling them with crumbled Amaretti biscuits, honey and dots of butter, then cooking for 15-18 minutes.  Serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt of creme fraiche - absolutely yummy.

I always recommend a diet that is 80% good and 20% naughty, so here is the good bit -

Butter Bean and Broccoli Salad


Serves 2


250g sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped + 1 tbsp of the oil
pinch chilli flakes
seasoning
100g broccoli, cut into florets and steamed 
3 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
1 x 400g butter beans, drained
1 roasted red pepper, cut into strips
sprig thyme, leaves only, chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp olive oil


1.  Place the sweet potatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, oil and chilli flakes into a roasting tin and cook for 15 minutes at 200C, until the sweet potato is soft.
2.  Place the remaining ingredients into a large bowl, pour in the sweet potatoes and all the lovely juices,  mix well and serve.

I spoke too soon!

There I was boasting about the fact that I had remained healthy throughout the whole Zambezi trip, and then I started to feel a little 'odd'.  A few days later the 'oddness' had changed to downright illness and my body size was getting smaller due to me not fancying anything to eat at all - and that's when I knew I was just not right!
Another member of the team emailed to say he had been diagnosed with the parasite Giardia lamblia, so I headed off to get tested, and low and behold I had also managed to smuggle some little bugs back with me too.
Giardia lamblia is associated with the consumption of contaminated water and, as we had been drinking The Zambezi it is probably safe to say that that's where we got it from.  If you need to see what it looks like just Google it - I wish I hadn't, as now I can imagine all those little bugs running around inside me!
So, with only ten days to go before I fly out to Poznan, Poland for the World Masters Rowing Championships, I needed to do some exercise but couldn't actually get my breath if I exerted myself.  Luckily I have just found an area of hills that I have not explored before, so out came the walking boots and a friend and I headed off to the North Downs for a bit of hill walking.  What a great walk we had too - hardly anybody around (on a Bank Holiday weekend I suspect they were all packed into the Lake District!), and we found a great pub for lunch in the beautiful village of Shere - The William Bray.

Now the antibiotics have done their job (I hope), I am back to getting real food down me again, and have a craving for natural yoghurt, which is not only great for the probiotics I need to help get my healthy bacteria up to speed, but also can be used in so many things, not only sweet - yesterday I made a delicious dhal with lentils and coconut oil and lots of great spices and topped it with natural yoghurt sprinkled with cumin seed fried onions.  Today I was in the mood for creamy sweet citrus, so gently stirred homemade lemon curd into creamy natural yoghurt and served it over strawberries, with lemon zest on top - heavenly.
I don't think it's going to take long to replace the weight I lost!

Please take me back.....!

What a culture shock, to return from the banks of the Zambezi back to London - it really highlights the differences between our two countries.
But what an amazing trip - to start in Lusaka, drive all the way up to Angola and then paddle just under 1000km down the great Zambezi river to finish just above Victoria Falls.
There were obviously some bits that were not so amazing - not being able to wash for up to five days, or having to get up at 5.30am, pack up sleeping bag, tent and all kit for a 6.30am  breakfast, still in the dark and very much in the cold.  But the upside was sculling down the middle of a beautiful river, surrounded by wildlife (crocs, hippos, stunning birdlife), knowing that I was seeing something that not many people would ever get the chance to see, including most of the people who live in Zambia.
And meeting those people was such a pleasure - they are the happiest, calmest people I think I have ever met.  I was told by a friend who lives there that the Zambians never shout - it wasn't until I returned to London that I realised I had not heard a raised voice for over 3 weeks!
Needless to say I have returned a little lighter than before - we had great food cooked by our support team, but it was hard to fit in time to eat enough to sustain the exercise we were doing.  A few of the team came down with stomach issues - we were having to drink the Zambezi as well as row on it, as there is no other water in a lot of places.  We used sterilising tabs and also filter bottles, but for some this was not enough.  I had recommended Bio-Kult probiotics for everyone before we left, so some of us were better at dealing with the strange bacteria.  A couple of us also took Higher Nature Oregano oil capsules which are anti-bacterial, and I think this helped too.
Being vegetarian wasn't really a problem, as meat was not so easy to store anyway, so lots of great veggie dishes were cooked - gem squash stuffed with cheese and sweetcorn, green beans cooked in Coconoil and spices.  We were even treated to freshly made bread and, on special occasions, chocolate cake or apple crumble - I was amazed and delight at the inventiveness of Jana our great support girl.

One of the greatest treats was fresh fish, caught by one of our guides - I have never seen anybody catch fish so easily as this guy - he just seemed to know exactly where the fish were, and he reeled them in, one after the other.  Local bream was certainly very tasty, but the most impressive to look at was tiger fish, although eating them was tricky as they have lots of bones, and when eating by torchlight this becomes even more of a problem!
Typically conversation around the campfire always turned to what we would eat if we could, with everyone recalling their favourite meal, or dreaming about what their first meal would be on returning home.  It was like torture!
And now I am home, what I would really like is to be sitting around a campfire listening to all those great dishes all over again.

A break from blogging

Well, this is it, tomorrow I fly to Lusaka and will return once I have completed 1000km row down the Zambezi, from Angola to Victoria Falls.  I can't believe after all the preparation that it is finally here - and I am SOOOOOO EXCITED!!
I know all my friends think I am mad, but I can't think of a better way to spend a month, than being in the heart of Africa, with nothing but a boat for transport, a fire to cook on and a river to wash in, drink and generally have fun in (ignoring the crocodile and hippo bit of fun!).
You can follow our progress at www.rowzambezi.com, where a map will give you our 'live' position - we have GPS on the boats - so if the technology works we should be easy to spot.
I'm sure I will come back with some interesting recipes you'll all want to try - like what to do with a live goat, or how to cook tiger fish (if Dan does actually catch any!).  Until then, keep eating well.

An overhaul before I go!

Packing and getting organised for a 'normal' trip abroad is bad enough, packing and preparing myself for this wild adventure is daunting - what if I forget the most important bit of kit required i.e. my machete, or even my electrical insulation tape?  Yes, both of these things are on my kit list!  I have decided to go for the dagger option for fighting off crocs though - I figure my fellow rowers would be in more danger if I carried a machete.  And the electrical insulation tape?  For taping up blistered hands, or prevention there of.  
That is the answer to all of this really - planning for prevention of anything untoward.
And to that end I have spent numerous evenings (and lots of cash) getting jabs, having my teeth checked, making sure my back is in order (osteopath), and generally buying lots of weird medical stuff that I normally wouldn't touch.
I am obviously trying to go for the most natural way of preventing anything, so have also been taking supplements that have been shown to help support the immune system against dodgy bacteria, and this week have been consuming a delicious cranberry smoothie that I am hoping may help along the same lines (cranberry has been shown in studies to decrease some bacterias adhering to the urinary tract lining).  So with only 7 days left I feel I have done everything possible to ensure I am ready.  It struck me this morning that surely this is how I should treat my body all the time?  It feels a little like before you sell your house you renovate it for the next person moving in - I have given my body a complete overhaul, now I just hope the croc doesn't want to take possession!


Cranberry and Strawberry Smoothie

Handful of strawberries*
Handful of frozen cranberries
1/2 mango, peeled
1 tsp honey
200ml oat or soya milk


Place everything into a blender and blend until smooth.


*If you have a good blender like a Vitamix, you can even leave the tops on the strawberries for added fibre.

Time to bulk up!

With only 14 days left before I fly out to Lusaka and join the other members of the Row Zambezi team, I have to really work hard now at keeping fit and healthy, so I can start the trip at the peak of fitness.
Luckily the team have been helped along with sponsorship from a few supplement companies, so we will all be taking probiotics and multi-vitamins prior to and during the expedition, in the hope that this may give us a good base of nutrition, especially for the days when we are surviving on army rations (which I have been told will cause constipation, so I will also be sneaking a little pot of ground linseeds into my bag, to help me in that situation!).
But what also sprang to mind was that I will certainly be losing weight whilst on the trip (rowing for 4-7 hours a day for 17 days does have some benefits!), so could allow myself a few treats before I go!  So as well as taking in my normal healthy day to day nutritional foods, I have been allowing myself a bit of free rein on everything else.  Pudding for me (I have a very sweet tooth) would normally be fresh fruit and natural yoghurt, which I do adore, but this week I found a little banoffee pudding to be equally satisfying!
Getting away from my normal diet also gives me more inspiration to try new recipes, and this soup was served to me in a restaurant when I was on a press trip in Germany many years ago and I had always wanted to try to recreate it - I think I've just got it right!
I have also recently acquired a fantastic machine called a Vitamix - an amazingly serious blender that can blend almost anything, and it makes this soup taste extra creamy and light.

Salmon and Horseradish Soup

Serves 4

Prep time: 8 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

1 tbsp olive oil

1 leek, trimmed and sliced

500g potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 ltr fish stock

260g salmon fillets, cut into chunks

1 ½ tbsp creamed horseradish

100g double cream

snipped chives to serve

1.     Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the sliced leeks for 6 minutes.

2.     Add the chopped potatoes and stock and bring to the boil.  Simmer for 16-18 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

3.     Add half the salmon and cook for a further 2 minutes.

4.     Process in a blender or food processor with the creamed horseradish and cream until smooth.

5.     Return to the pan, add the remaining chunks of salmon and reheat until the salmon is cooked – about 2-3 minutes.

6.     Serve garnished with snipped chives.

A Diverse Day

I love that my life is so mad, with so many things going on at the same time, sometimes I get very confused as to where I am supposed to be and with whom!
Thursday was a prime example - firstly an invitation to join the Row Zambezi team for lunch at Henley Royal Regatta, hosting His Excellency the High Commissioner of Zambia.  As always, I arrived very early, to give myself a chance to wander along the 2 km course and watch some racing (most people don't move from the first Pimms bar they come across, but for me it's all about the rowing!).  After my walk I strolled to Leander, one of the most prestigious rowing clubs in the country, and treated myself to brunch (possibly the worst hot chocolate I have ever tasted!) and then reclined in a deckchair to watch more racing.
Lunch was taken at the Mile & 1/8th Restaurant, named due to it's position along the course, and again the food and service was really disappointing - it's not as if they don't do this every year, and at £36 for three courses, it is not exactly cheap.
But what was good fun was talking to His Excellency about the foods we may be able to acquire whilst paddling down the Zambezi.  I was concerned that we would not be able to find much fresh food, but he assured me that there are lots of fresh fruits growing along the river and villagers would be happy to sell food to us.  One of the highlights is that avocado grow wild there, and taste amazing.  Another tip was that there may be 'village chicken' available - this is the Zambian's name for free-range, as the chickens really do run around the village!

Leaving Henley before afternoon tea started was tough (I can never resist cake!), but I was attending a Guild of Food Writers workshop in Central London, which took place in The Scandinavian Kitchen and was to enlighten us on the Scandinavian diet.
Ask most people what the Scandinavians eat and the answer would probably be pickled herring and meat balls, and this is certainly part of their diet, but there are other equally interesting foods on offer.  But what I love is that they have a name for traditional, home comfort food - husmanskost, which literally means 'house owner's food'.  Smorgasbord is another great staple for breakfast and lunch - open sandwiches, normally on rye bread (which is why they are open, as chewing two layers of rye bread is quite hard work!).  And then there is the oder in which foods are eaten (and we were told it would be frowned upon if we strayed from this order!) - fish, meats, cheese and sweets.  And pickled herring must be accompanied by schnapps!
There is a study presently being undertaken that is hoping to show that the Scandinavian diet is as healthy as the Mediterranean diet.  Much as I love the pickled herring, I would rather be eating them on a sunny Mediterranean beach than the banks of an icy Fjord!