Life after detox.........

Wow, what an amazing experience - and that is not what you would expect to be saying after two weeks of not eating all the things you thought you loved and couldn't go without!
Yesterday was my final day of eating the cleanest diet I am ever likely to have consumed, having removed all foods that may be slightly toxic to the body, either because they are produced using chemicals (pesticides, mercury in fish etc), or may naturally cause intolerances (gluten, dairy, deadly nightshade family, soy).  And having cut out lots of foods, this meant I could increase the remaining food groups, and eat far more!
This was the interesting bit - to start with my weight started to drop, but I didn't want to lose weight, I just wanted to eat healthily and be sure to rid my body of unwanted toxins.  So each day I would weigh myself and if it looked like my weight was dropping I increased my intake of delicious foods that day - what could be better?!
And now I'm back to a 'normal' diet, I don't want any of those bad foods back, because I feel so great without them - more energy, amazingly smooth skin and very focused brain-wise!
This is what a detox should be, it's not about losing weight and starving yourself - for detoxification to work well it needs lots of nutrient support, so increasing your intake of colourful vegetables, fibre and plenty of liquid is hugely important.
De-stressing yourself mentally and physically also helps - taking long relaxing Epsom salt baths, having a massage, or even just going for a long relaxed walk in the countryside, all help towards a more relaxed you and hopefully a more relaxed digestive system.
Changing the way you eat also encourages you to try new foods and recipes, and even though I cook for a living (so you would think I had cooked pretty much everything!), I leant a lot having less ingredients to play with, but love some of the new recipes I have come up with.
My favourite of course has to be replacing the one thing I thought I couldn't live without - creamy natural yoghurt.  But guess what?  Creamy homemade coconut milk yoghurt is just as tasty and fits in perfectly with my thoughts on eating a dairy-free diet (we should all be doing it!).
Even entertaining became fun - the recipe below I cooked for a friend who is now converted to quinoa, and who knows, I may even get her to join me on the detox programme next year!
If you'd like to join us too, do get in touch.

Grilled Mackerel with Quinoa Beetroot Tabbouleh

Serves 4

225 g quionoa
125 g cooked beetroot, diced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
large handful parsley, chopped
large handful mint, chopped
large handful coriander, chopped
large handful chives, chopped
1/2 cucumber, diced
juice of 1 lime
1-2 tbsp good tasting extra virgin olive oil
seasoning
8 mackerel fillets

Cook the quinoa in simmering water according to the pack instructions.  Drain and refresh under cold water then drain and place in a large bowl.
Stir in the diced beetroot, grated carrot, chopped herbs and cucumber.
Squeeze in the lime juice and pour over the olive oil, mix and season well.  Leave to stand at room temperature.
Grill the mackerel fillets for 3-4 minutes each side and serve on a bed of the colourful salad.

Tip:  As with all my recipes, this is just an idea - change it to suit your taste - different herbs, chopped avocado, fresh anchovies, toasted seeds - the list is endless - have fun!

Happy Healthy Eating,

Joy x

Oh my goodness, where did the summer go?  And how much did that amazing Olympic thing interfere with our lives (in a great way of course!)?  So I only now feel that I am back in the land of of the living after what, for me, was a very busy summer.  People who write blogs every day clearly do not have enough going on in their lives!
But thinking of what I was going to write today got me all excited again, giving me a reason to cook or make something really nice that I could talk to you about. That's always the hardest decision really, as there are so many things I love to cook.
But today was my first practice at making homemade yoghurt in the way I was recently taught at The School of Artisan Food, where nothing is cheated!  I spent a glorious full day there, on a cheese-making course, part of which was to show us how to make butter and yoghurt too.
Now as a nutritionist I would not normally recommend an abundance of dairy in a diet - there is the suggestion that as humans we were never supposed to consume dairy products once we were taken off our mother’s milk.  Lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose, which is the the sugar in milk, may not be present in enough numbers to be able to break down the lactose as we get older (past 2 years old to be more precise).  There are also studies that show a racial difference in the incidence of lactase deficiency, with a recent study showing that lactase deficiency is a common genetic trait in the American Indian that becomes manifest in early childhood.

So are you dairy intolerant?  How do you know?  If you are suffering with bloating, diarrhoea, flatulence or stomach cramps after consuming food or drink that contains lactose, such as dairy products, then this may apply to you.  

The best way of testing whether it is dairy products that are causing your symptoms (as there are other things that may be the cause) is to avoid all dairy for at least two weeks and see if the symptoms improve. 
The use of fermented dairy foods is common in areas of the world where lactase deficiency is prevalent.  Yoghurt appears to be well tolerated by lactase-deficient people, resulting in little or no gastrointestinal distress, which is apparently due to an enzyme in the yoghurt that causes ‘lactase activity’ in the gastrointestinal tract.  And that is my scientific reason for making this thick, creamy, puddinging yoghurt!

I have to admit to not really sticking to a recipe as I wanted to see how easy it is to make without having to think about it too much (my favourite way of cooking!).  So treat this purely as a guideline then experiment yourself and just see what happens!

• Place 2 litres of milk in a stainless steel saucepan (I used creamy Gold Top milk, but on the course we were also told you could use raw if you live near a farmer that would sell it to you!).  Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until it has reduced by about a third - just tell by eye.
• Pour the milk into a bowl and stir in 300ml single or double cream (depending on how thick and creamy you really want it to be - I found double cream to be just a little too much).  Leave it to cool until it is around 40-42°C (if you don't have a thermometer I would say you need to leave it for about 15-20 minutes).
• Stir in 250g fresh, natural yoghurt and mix well.  Pour into a container and place in a warm place - I no longer have an airing cupboard (does anybody?!), so I put my oven on as low as it would go (the thermometer was below 50°C) and left the door slightly ajar.  I didn't cover the yoghurt as I wanted to see if I could get a lovely skin on top.  (If you have a constantly warm Aga you have absolutely no excuse for not making yoghurt and bread every week!)
• It takes anything between 5-8 hours - the slower and longer the better apparently.  And it is so worth the wait!

Happy Eating!

Joy x

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An easy routine.......

The only downside of having a property in another country, that you only visit occasionally, is that you spend the first couple of days cleaning and repairing and making it feel like home again. In our case it was two days of weed clearing - the garden looked like a meadow, when in reality it should be crazy paving (whoever invented that dreadful phrase and concept was certainly crazy). So, yesterday morning I cycled down to the local garden centre and tried to explain, in my non-existent Turkish, to a very sweet man, with non-existent English, that I needed weed killer. The killer bit was easy, katil. But when it came to weeds ise yaramaz ot, ayrik otu, I was a little stumped! Despite this, after 15 minutes of gesticulating, I had a coke bottle with some dubious looking liquid in it, that we had agreed needed to be topped up with water, 1:5. And after all this debate, he refused to let me pay for it! That is what I love about this place, everybody wants to help and there is no ulterior motive, ever. A couple of hours spent in the internet cafe trying to download lectures I have missed, came free with Turkish apple tea and a bunch of geraniums! Sometimes being female is just the best!

So, a routine is very soon settled into. I am woken by the local military base....my alarm can be anything from the morning drill being called (perfect for getting me out of bed!), a boogle, a round of rifles or a full brass band! The base is only about 500 meters from the house

and if the wind is blowing the wrong way it sounds like we have thirty soldiers in our back garden. A thirty minute run to the headland is followed by a swim in the sea (bit of a shock this time as we are here earlier than normal and it's pretty cold!). After a quick shower, a breakfast of muesli, fresh local strawberries and local natural yoghurt. Unlike the Greek yoghurt we get at home, this Turkish yoghurt is thick and creamy, but also very smooth. It also has a crust on top like that of a home-made rice pudding - almost chewy, and absolutely delicious. If I was cast on a dessert island and only allowed one meal it would be this yoghurt and honey....forever!

After that the day consists of laying on the patio, strolling into town to do odd jobs or buy more food, and walking the two minutes to the sea for another swim - it's hell!

The other thing that has to be mentioned is the cats. They are everywhere. And I mean everywhere - there are hundreds, all colours, and sort of semi wild - they will let you feed them but are unlikely to let you touch them. We have adopted a couple at the house in the short time we have been here and already they feel comfortable enough to sleep on our chairs, but not for us to get too close.

Tonight is our last night so we are going out to dinner. We will go to the same place we ate in on our first night, despite saying we would try different ones.......the problem is they are so nice and constantly give us more than we order or ask for, so it seems rude not to give them out custom. Obviously this is why they do it but what the heck!