Raw Food & Healthy Eating Scotland

Rawfood, vegan, vegetarian, plant based & healthy eating in Scotland

Raw food in Cape Town

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Cape Town Raw and Vegan Food

I recently found myself far from the chilly Scottish shores, over in the South African sunshine, sampling the raw food delights of Cape Town.

Glasgow to Cape Town

After a 11.5 hour flight connecting at Heathrow (if you go, make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to connect – our flight from Glasgow to London was delayed so we had a mad dash and just made it by the skin of our teeth – which is more than can be said for our luggage!) we made it to our cute little Airbnb beach apartment at the beautiful seaside resort of Camps Bay.

Camps Bay – Cape Town beach

Camps Bay was a great base for us as it had plenty of cafes, a supermarket, fabulous sandy beaches, and a great healthy fast food place just around the corner!

Kauai healthy fast food

Kauai has salads, superfood smoothies, juices, and plenty of healthy meals. A lot of their dishes include meat; however you can ask them to veganise it for you, which transforms it into a tasty plant-based salad.  It was by far my favourite place to eat (or in my case, drink, as I became addicted to their smoothies) as it was quick, easy, and just a stone’s throw from the beach.

There was also a juice bar out on the street with lovely friendly owners. They weren’t there everyday, but when they were they brightened up the place with their cheerful banter and lovely fresh juices.

Mango Heaven

The Camps Bay supermarket (and indeed the most common one around the Cape Town area it seems) is Pick n Pay. It has all the essentials you might expect, including boxes of 6 mangos for 400 Rand – that’s about £2.50 – WELL HELLO THERE – yep I lived off mangos while I was there.

Vegans take note – you’ll be glad to know that the Pick n Pay also stocks Violife vegan cheese. Another handy thing for vegans to bear in mind is that almond milk is offered as a dairy substitute in most of the coffee shops and restaurants.

Windy weather

In terms of weather – be warned! Camps Bay can get mighty windy (even by Scottish standards!) so if you want a more chilled beach experience head on down to the more sheltered, and very beautiful, Clifton Beaches, just down the road.

Sea Point

Further on down the road is the affluent area of Sea Point. You’re gonna love Sea Point! It has a fantastic big supermarket (The Spar, Regent St) with loads of fresh produce and plenty of other healthy options including gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian. It even has flax crackers and kale chips – hurrah!

Scheckters Raw Cafe

Keep going down Regent St and you’ll come to Scheckters Raw Cafe.

This gorgeous little place is crammed with raw goodies, including fresh cold-pressed juices, smoothies and smoothie bowls.

In the morning it has a varied breakfast menu with raw and vegan options.

After 12 it switches to a fab varied menu of healthy vegan meals such as falafels, wraps, and smashed avo on sprouted toast.

Don’t forget to leave room for desert though – how about raw vegan versions of snickers or twix? #yesplease

I had a snickers bar and a snickers shake. Overkill? Perhaps. But I was on my holidays.  The snickers bar was the best one I’ve ever tasted.  In fact I’m almost tempted to jump on another 11.5 hour flight just to get another one…

Regent St in Sea Point leads onto Main St, and more juice bars (you’ll never go thirsty at Sea Point), including One Juice and the Daily Press, which has lovely super-friendly staff.

Vegan & Veggies Sea Point

But my favourite raw vegan juice bar in Sea Point has to be Vegan & Veggies, a little juice bar and cafe on Main St run by the lovely Raphael Stone.

Raphael will happily chat to you for hours about natural health; it’s clear that he’s passionate about the healing properties of food, and he has big dreams about creating something really special in Cape Town. He’s on a quest to find the healing elixir of youth! So if you know it – stop by and share it with him 😉

V&A Waterfront

Cape Town Raw and Vegan Food

Heading along the coast to the V&A centre at the waterfront, you’ll find Dr Juice in the Food Court, with a wide array of raw juices and smoothies, plus some delicious raw vegan deserts and cheesecake.

There are also plenty of other juice bars around the V&A, and also a great place for Middle Eastern style vegan food and healthy salads (called Cooked, ironically). So grab a takeaway and eat it down at the harbour while you chill with the seals.

Boulder Bay – and Penguins!

You wouldn’t expect penguins to be hanging around the sunny shores of South Africa, but there they are!  Loads of them!  If you head off on an excursion to visit Cape Point and see the penguins at Boulders Beach you can re-hydrate at a cool little café along the way, in between the car park and the beach. I had a fresh watermelon juice that really hit the spot after a bit of penguin watching.

Cape Town – healthy quality food

I have to say, I was mega-impressed by the general standard of food around Cape Town.  Everywhere was really excellent quality, at incredible value for money.

There are so many healthy cafes and restaurants around Cape Town, and I didn’t get to visit them all, sadly. But this website is a great resource for checking out some more raw and vegan-friendly places:

https://insideguide.co.za/cape-town/best-vegetarian-vegan-restaurants-cape-town/

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*Please note – cafes and juice bars open up and close down at a rapid rate, so please check directly with websites or Facebook pages before visiting, in order to avoid disappointment. And please comment below with any updates or additions you’d like to make.

Have you visited Cape Town?  What did you think?  Let me know in the comments below.

Raw Vegan Organic Cacao Lotion Bars

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I decided I was going to have a bash at creating some raw vegan organic cacao DIY moisturizing lotion bars. It turns out they’re ridiculously easy to make! I may never buy lotion bars again…

What’s a lotion bar you may ask??

It’s like a bar of soap that you rub on your skin, but instead of washing you it moisturizes you. Like body lotion in solid form.

Raw vegan organic cacao goodness for your skin

I love these kind of bars for taking with me while I’m travelling as they’re less likely to make a big mess in my suitcase if they somehow come out of their packaging en-route.

So I decided I’d make one batch of general skin-pampering lotion bars, and one batch of mosquito-repellent bars for any sunny holidays I may find myself on (my Holy Grail is to find the perfect natural organic bug-repellent).

While I was checking out recipes online (Wellness Mama is well worth checking out for tons of cool recipes) I noticed they all seemed to include beeswax. Now, the thing about beeswax is that it melts at a pretty high temperature, which makes the bars extra-solid, which isn’t really necessary in our ‘not so tropical’ Scottish weather. So I decided to omit the beeswax, which also meant they would be vegan. Bonus!

Most recipes were usually including shea butter too, and I would have definitely used this cos it’s lovely, but I didn’t have any to hand.

I used a combination of raw cold pressed organic coconut oil and raw organic cacao butter for gorgeous silky-smooth bars that nourish the skin without any chemical nasties.

I thought it would be a good idea to also add a little oil that stays liquid at room temperature, to make the bars a bit softer and easier to glide on to the skin. Because let’s face it, in this country you need a chisel to prize your coconut oil outta the jar in the mornings.  I used hemp oil and evening primrose oil but you could just as easily use other oils such as olive or jojoba.

Bear in mind though, if you take these on holiday somewhere hot, they’ll get all melty and turn into a thick luxurious lotion. While this feels gorgeous on your skin, it’s not quite so gorgeous spilled in your case all over your new holiday clothes. So take them in a good sturdy container, and keep them in the fridge if you want them to stay solid.

Skin pampering raw vegan organic cacao lotion bar

Ingredients:

1 cup cacao butter
1 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons evening primrose oil
10 drops each of the following essential oils:
Ylang ylang, lavender, frankincense, clary sage, patchouli

Mosquito repellent raw vegan organic lotion bar

Ingredients:

1 cup cacao butter
1 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons hemp oil
8 drops each of the following essential oils:
Eucalyptus lemon, tea tree, peppermint, citronella, cinnamon

 

Instructions (for both types of bar):

Melt the cacao butter gently over a very low heat (careful, you don’t want to cook it), then once it’s about half melted add the coconut oil. Once they’re both liquid, remove from the heat and add in the other oils. Stir everything around, then pour it into some silicone moulds, or any other spare containers you have lying around. Then leave it to chill and become solid.

And that’s it. Told you it was easy didn’t I?!

The bug repellent bars can double as deodorant bars too (and even toothpaste!) due to their lovely fresh scents.

So there you go – your very own raw vegan organic skin nourishing bars! Let me know how you get on!

And one more thing – please try to resist licking yourself in public, it’s a tad uncivilised 😉

Lisa x

Healthy Eating – is it a mental illness?

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orthorexia

“Are you 100% raw vegan?” she asked, with an evangelical gleam in her eye.

That was before she’d asked me my name.

It’s not the first time somebody has ‘introduced’ themselves to me in this way at a rawfood potluck.

If you move in rawfood circles, you may have come across this all or nothing ’cooked food is poison’ kind of attitude, and it can be a bit off-putting, especially if you’re just getting started and wonder how on earth your diet could possibly exclude all cooked food.

There are some who would argue that this kind of thinking – whether it relates to raw, paleo, vegan, or any other restrictive diet – deserves to be classified as an eating disorder. And in fact there’s even a label for it.

Stephen Bratman first coined the term ‘Orthorexia’ in 1997, defining it as “an emotionally disturbed, self-punishing relationship with food that involves a progressively shrinking universe of foods deemed acceptable”.

If you’re the kind of person that says “Hey, I eat what I like! As long as it’s tasty, that’s all that I care about!”, while rolling your eyes at that person in the supermarket carefully scanning the ingredient list on a packet of gluten-free bread, then you may agree.

On the other hand, if you have done a bit of research into exactly what ingredients are added to processed foods, then you might think that a mental illness label is more suited to those people who blithely trust the big food corporations to feed them without checking out what exactly is inside those pretty boxes of convenience foods.

Michael Moss, author of ‘Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us’ certainly puts a strong point across in his expose of the sinister marketing practices of the major food industries, claiming that junk food is basically a legalised narcotic that we are being systematically manipulated to consume.

Back in the 1990s when the concept of Orthorexia was starting to be discussed, I was beginning to change my own eating habits; becoming vegetarian, then a few years later moving onto the raw food diet. So when I came across the concept of Orthorexia I was outraged at the idea that eating healthily should be labelled with such negatively.

However, after spending many years immersed in the world of health food, I have to say that the kind of obsessiveness that Bratman describes is indeed often apparent.

That constant search for the pure, perfect diet and the feelings of guilt or shame when it isn’t followed (and the sense of superiority when it IS followed) are common topics of conversation on internet forums, Facebook groups, and at pot-lucks.

Yet the search for that perfect diet remains elusive. It seems everyone has a different opinion on what we should eat, and in this age of ‘information overload’ we never have far to go (or to click) before we get to the next self-proclaimed expert telling us to…

Eat lots of fruit!
Don’t eat any fruit!
Go vegan!
Eat animal products!
Eat kale!
Kale will kill you!
Eat raw food!
Always cook your food!

And so on, until it seems the only feasible option left is to become breatharian..

There’s a minefield of confusion out there in the world of nutrition, in both mainstream and alternative circles. Added to this, each year seems to bring some kind of food scandal, such as salmonella in eggs, ‘mad cow disease’, and horsemeat in supermarket ready meals.

So there’s little wonder that people are starting to become much more aware of what to put in their bodies. But does it necessarily mean that you’re mentally unstable?

There’s a list of questions at Webmd.com to help you identify whether you’re suffering from Orthorexia. They’re not all that helpful, in my opinion. Some of them seem to assume some quite specific social norms.

For instance, the question: ‘are you planning tomorrow’s menu today?’ operates on the assumption that everybody outsources their food preparation.

I mean, if you’re getting your meals from the local takeaway, then sure, you don’t need to do much planning other than picking up the phone and dialling a number.

If however you’re making your meals from REAL foods – not pre-packaged boxes – then of course you have to prepare and plan them in advance.

For example: sprouting, fermenting and dehydrating are all popular ways of preparing foods on a raw diet, and they all require some prior planning (several days in some cases). But does that mean we’re orthorexic – or are we just organised?

Not so long ago people had to plan MONTHS in advance in order to eat: they would grow their own food, then utilise preservation methods such as pickling to store it for when it was needed.

Does all this pre-preparation mean they were orthorexic? Of course not. It’s just that we now live in a society where we expect somebody else in a place far away to do all that for us.

Another question asks: ‘Does your diet make it difficult for you to eat anywhere but at home, distancing you from friends and family?’

I’d say this is more of a reflection on the type and variety of restaurants available, than on your state of mind. Twenty years ago even just being vegetarian made it difficult to eat out, whereas nowadays restaurants are much more willing to cater to a multitude of dietary requirements. Glasgow for instance has an abundance of restaurants who offer vegan options, and even some who are exclusively vegan.

So rather than asking what kind of foods we’re eating, the amount of time we spend preparing them, or where we eat them, perhaps a more appropriate question may be:

Do you feel guilty or anxious, fearful or irritable, if you eat something you think you shouldn’t?

Even this question is not quite impartial, as science is now finding out that food may in fact alter and affect our emotions.

Food and emotions – It’s a two-way street

Studies such as this one from The Journal of Psychiatric Research look at the role of the gut microbiota in cognitive function, demonstrating how our internal microorganisms can actually shape our thoughts and behaviour in negative ways.

So is it right to assume that we’re feeling down about our poor food choices – or are we in fact simply responding to the influence of our gut microbes?

Food and emotions are clearly interlinked in very complex ways, making it very difficult to really define a term such as Orthorexia. But if I had to make my own checklist to identify if I have an eating disorder, I think I could whittle it down to just three questions:

Do you have fun and enjoy being creative while preparing food?
Does your body feel good after you’ve eaten?
Are mealtimes a joyful experience for you?

If you can answer yes to these questions, then chances are you’re on the right path.

Healthy pink lemonade virgin cocktail

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non-alcoholic cocktail

This healthy pink lemonade non-alcoholic cocktail is perfect for a refreshing fizzy vitamin C-fuelled lift, and the berries add a gorgeous colour.

Ingredients:
3 apples
2 lemons
1″ cube ginger
1 cup frozen berries
1 tablespoon baobob (This superfood is available in most good health food stores. Don’t worry if you don’t have any, it’s fine to leave it out – but it does add an extra bit of zing)
1 tablespoon maple syrup (adjust to taste depending on how sweet you like it)
3 drops vanilla stevia (or you can substitute with vanilla extract)
500 ml sparkling water

Juice the apples, lemons and ginger. Blend with the rest of the ingredients. Chill in the fridge and serve with ice.

Interview with PICNIC Vegan Cafe Glasgow

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vegan restaurants glasgow

Of all the vegan cafes in Glasgow, Picnic has got to be one of my favourites.  It’s a lovely bright friendly wee place with a smashing menu of simple tasty dishes.  Unlike a lot of the other vegan restaurants in Glasgow, it places an emphasis on healthy plant-based organic foods, so if you fancy a smoothie and a raw vegan salad for lunch with a delicious raw cake for desert, then Picnic is for you.

Fairly new to the Glasgow vegan scene, Picnic was established in 2016 by owner Michelle Morrow, and already has an army of dedicated fans who give it rave reviews on Trip Advisor.

Curious to know more about how Picnic came to be, I asked Michelle if I could interview her and she very kindly agreed.

10 Questions for Michelle Morrow, Picnic Vegan Café Glasgow

1. To begin, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to be running a vegan cafe in Glasgow?

MM: My husband, Nick and I went vegan about 5 years ago. We were very frustrated there weren’t any fully vegan places in the city centre offering healthy, freshly made food. Realising there was a bit of gap in the market, we began planning and researching opening our own place and Picnic was born!

2. Opening a fully-vegan cafe is quite a bold move, considering that most cafes tend to go down the safe route of offering vegan and vegetarian options. What motivated you to open a completely vegan cafe?

MM: Being anything less than fully vegan wasn’t something we considered. It wouldn’t have sat at all well with us to serve any animal derived products because Nick and I feel strongly there’s no such thing as an ethical or healthy animal product.

3. Glasgow is usually more well-known for its deep-fried Mars Bars and Irn Bru, rather than with healthy or vegan food – what made you choose this city in particular for your location?

MM: First of all, we are very settled in Glasgow, so it made sense to open here. Also, the fact Glasgow has so many other vegan places means it’s a popular destination for travelling vegans! Glaswegians also love to eat out generally, so we try to attract as many people – both vegan and non vegan alike – as possible.

4. Where do you get your inspiration for the delicious plant-based dishes that you serve in Picnic? Do you have any particular favourite vegan chefs that you follow, or do you prefer to veganise conventional recipes?

MM: Inspiration comes from all kinds of places. I enjoy experimenting in the kitchen with various ideas and if I think they’re good enough, we serve them in Picnic. I like to travel, so some inspiration comes from things I’ve tried elsewhere. I also like to look at different recipes and tweak them to add my own twist.

5. Veganism is really exploding in the UK lately – have you noticed that trend reflected at Picnic? Are you currently inundated with newbie vegans doing Veganuary?

MM: We have seen quite a few customers in January who are doing Veganuary, which is great. We also have a real mix of regular customers plus new people coming all the time. Veganism and interest in it is noticeably on the up, which is a great thing. We also have a lot of customers who are not vegan but have drastically cut down their intake of animal products. It’s always pleasing when people try vegan food, plant milk or cakes for the first time and love them!

6. What is your most popular raw food (or drink!) in the cafe?

MM: The Raw Pad Thai salad we offer is very popular – it’s also one of my favourites. It’s a nice combination of healthy fresh salad with a lime and cashew dressing. There’s also a few fresh chillies in there, which I love. The smoothies are also very popular with the Glasgow Green being a particular favourite.

7. What would you say people prefer – healthy plant based food or the decadent vegan cakes you offer?

MM: I think people welcome the fact there’s somewhere they can get a healthy lunch or breakfast, which isn’t that easy in the City Centre. Of course, everybody loves the cakes which is why we offer a choice of healthier, raw options.

8. Do you ever get famous vegan celebs paying you a visit?

MM: There’s been quite a few musicians and DJs who’ve dropped in, whilst on tour. My husband was particularly excited when we had the bass player from The Who in for lunch one day because he’s a big fan.

9. What’s the weirdest thing that’s ever happened in Picnic? Any funny stories?

MM: Yes, funny things happen on a regular basis but that would be telling!

10. Where do you see Picnic in the future? Do you have any exciting plans coming up?

MM: Being a relatively new venture, our first goal is keep developing our existing outlet to ensure the business continues to grow. We’re happy with the way things have gone, so far and don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.

 

Many thanks to Michelle for kindly spending the time to answer my questions.  Be sure to pay Picnic a visit if you haven’t done so already – you won’t be disappointed!

You can find them at 103 Ingram Street Glasgow G1 1DX.

Raw Vegan Burns Supper Edinburgh

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Raw Vegan Burns Night

Edinburgh Rawfoodies – time to get excited! Marie-Anne Marten from Beetroot Cafe is about to launch a monthly pop-up Supper Club, and her first one is a fully raw vegan Burns Supper!

This amazing experience will take place at 7.30pm on Friday 26th January at Century General Store in Abbeyhill. On offer is an expertly created four-course tasting menu including haggis made from sprouted buckwheat, dairy-free cranachan cheesecake and cashew cheese and seaweed crackers, with some sparkling kombucha to wash it all down.

The entire menu will be 100% raw uncooked plant-based goodness – what a perfect way to celebrate Burns Night and  Veganuary all in one go.

raw vegan edinburgh

Marie-Anne – a Wild Food Cafe graduate – has joined forces with holistic therapist Fiona Reilly to put together this fabulous raw vegan event. They are both passionate about healthy eating, and very excited to combine it with such a wonderful Scottish tradition.

Tickets are available on Eventbrite .  You can also connect with Marie-Anne on Facebook , and if you need any more encouragement to book, just have a look at all the delicious food pics she shares on Instagram .

To RAW or not to RAW, that is the question…

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I hear a lot of people saying ‘I’m raw now’ or ‘I’m not raw anymore’ and it kind of perplexes me. The idea that you ‘are’ or ‘are not’ raw is a strange one. I realise they’re just words but it begs the question, is ‘raw’ something you are, or something you do?

I was thinking about this earlier when I was out exercising. I exercise most days, but there are occasional days I skip my workouts, due to being too busy etc.

After those days do I say to myself – ‘Oh, I’m not an exerciser anymore, so I may as well stop exercising completely!’?

No, of course I don’t. I just continue on with my usual workout program the next day without giving it a second thought.

And yet, this kind of behaviour seems to happen on the rawfood scene all the time. One day they’re raw, then they ‘fall off the wagon’, feel guilty, lose all momentum, and go back to their previous style of diet.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Including rawfood in your diet can be looked on in the same way as including exercise in your life. The more you do, the better you feel.

Most days (during the winter, especially), I start my day with a cup of hot tea.  What?? COOKED WATER??? Yes, technically speaking, straight away I’m not ‘raw’ at all!  But I don’t let that kind of thinking bother me – I love my herbal teas and I’m not giving them up anytime soon just to fulfil a dogma!

So don’t feel you’ve got to be perfect and be ‘100% raw’ in order to feel like you’re doing it right. Just keep including as much rawfood as feels right for you, and continue to live your life, remembering there are so many other lifestyle choices that affect your health.

9 ways to eat more greens

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9 ways to eat more greens

One of the most important things you can do to ensure your diet stays healthy and nutrient-rich is to eat more greens.

But it can be difficult to include enough of them in your daily diet. For those of us following a rawfood diet, we all know it’s easy to eat lots of that sweet succulent fruit, and those creamy avocados or nut-based sauces are hard to resist, but when it comes to green veggies they can be a little bit… let’s face it… boring…

So to give you some inspiration, here are nine ways to easily increase the amount of greens in your diet.

1. Green Smoothies

Let’s start with the blindingly obvious.  Green smoothies have gone so mainstream nowadays that even my mum knows all about them.  They are probably the easiest way to sneak some veggies into your diet.  Just start with a run-of-the-mill fruit smoothie – banana perhaps – then add a handful of green leafy veg such as lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, or celery.

Rotate your greens so you’re getting a wide variety of veggies.  As you get used to them you can increase the green content.  Green smoothies are probably the easiest way to introduce more green vegetables into your daily routine.

2.  Green juice

Another obvious one – although people often don’t really know the difference between juice and smoothies.  A smoothie is simply blended fruit and veg, whereas the juicing process removes the insoluble fibre from the vegetables, leaving just the easily absorbed juice to rehydrate your body.

Fresh vegetable juice is an excellent way to inject a mineral boost into your system and can really help with cravings for salty or ‘junky’ food.  Try juicing a few sticks of celery, a cucumber, a couple of carrots, an apple and a small chunk of ginger.  Tastes amazing, and sets you up perfectly for the day.

vegetable juice recipe

3. Sprouts

Growing your own sprouts is a fantastic way of adding fresh live foods into your diet.  Once a seed begins to germinate a treasure-chest of nutrients are unlocked.  Its enzymes are activated, it becomes easier to digest and absorb, and makes a tasty addition to any salad.  You don’t need any fancy equipment to start sprouting – you can simply use a glass jar.  Start with easy sprouts such as sunflowers or lentils.

4.  Microgreens

Microgreens are like sprouts’ big brother.  Instead of growing your seeds in water, you grow them direct into trays of soil and let them get a bit bigger.  They haven’t yet reached maturity, so they are super-fresh, excellent to juice, and extremely good for you.

The most popular microgreens are wheatgrass and sunflower greens.  I also love to grow snow pea greens, broccoli, radish, fenugreek – there are so many more to choose from.  For more information about how to grow microgreens, check out my blog here: http://rawfoodscotland.co.uk/microgreens/

5. Wild foods

You may not know it, but you are surrounded by some of the most densely nutritious green foods available – and they’re completely free!  Whether it’s your own garden, a local park, or woodland area, wild edibles grow abundantly all over the place.  However, you need to know what you’re doing of course.  Check out local foraging courses in your area or buy a book such as Food for Free, so you can learn the basics of what to look for and what to avoid.

6.  Awesome salads

If you become a whiz at making a deliciously tasty salad, you will look forward to enjoying them every day, rather than see them as a boring chore to eat.  The secret to a great salad is in the dressing.  If you get the dressing right, then everything else will fall into place.

Here are some tasty salad dressings to get you started: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/oil-free-dairy-free-salad-dressings/

Another fab tool in your salad making kit is a spiruliser.  This will turn your veggies into noodles and help make your salad a thing of beauty.

If you’re on Instagram, check out my page @cherrytherapies, as I post daily pics and recipes of the salads and other food I eat.

7.  Smoothie bowls

Speaking of Instagram, I should really mention that most photogenic dish of all – the smoothie bowl.  Back in my day we used to call them fruit salads, but times have moved on and they’re not just a few chopped up oranges and apples anymore.

I often have a smoothie bowl for breakfast.  It’s sometimes nice (and beneficial for digestion) to have something to chew on, rather than just slurping on a smoothie.  I begin by picking out some fresh ripe fruit, chopping them up, then placing them in a bowl.  This morning I chose pears (I tend to choose only one or two types of fruit, for optimal food combining).  I then tore up about half a head of butterhead lettuce, added some green superfood powder and mixed it all together with some green juice.  It’s like my version of breakfast cereal 🙂

8.  Superfood powders

If you have the money to spare, then green superfood powders can be an easy shortcut to adding more greens into your diet.  They are getting increasingly popular nowadays, so you can not only find them online, but in your local health store too.

There are a confusingly vast array of brands to choose from, and some may be poorer quality with lots of cheap fillers included, so it’s good to check the ingredients.  I personally like the old classic superfood powders such as Pure Synergy and Vitamineral Green.

9.  Herbal teas and infusions

I love to drink a nice cuppa tea first thing in the morning.  Maybe it’s a British thing?  Although my kind of tea is not your usual Tetleys.  Each morning I fill a pot with a mixture of fresh and dried herbs and edible weeds, add pure water, and heat it gently on the stove.  It’s usually the first thing I have in the morning.  By using lots of fresh herbs in my tea I feel this is a great way to start the day; it increases my greens intake, and feels so  much more satisfying than plain water.  Plus, it’s nice and warming when the weather is cooler (which, around here, is most of the time).

If you’re following a strictly raw diet you can make an infusion (or ‘sun tea’) by adding herbs to a jar of water and leaving it in a sunny warm place.

So – there are a few of my tips for eating more greens.  Did I forget any?  What are your favourite ways to squeeze a bit more greenness into your life?  Let me know in the comments below.

Here’s a challenge for you – see if you can start adding some greens into every meal, and reap the benefits of all those extra veggies in your diet.

Raw food in Thailand

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It amazes me that it took me 47 years to finally get around to visiting Thailand when I’ve been told for years by so many people that it is absolutely made for me.  The weather, the beaches, the chilled-out atmosphere, and of course the fruit, all point to it being my perfect destination.

So, very excited was I to be finally headed East to The Land of Smiles.

Rawfood on a long-haul plane trip

Our journey to Bangkok was from Edinburgh (via Doha), on Qatar airlines.  I prepared for the long journey by making green juice and freezing it in 100ml bottles – that way I managed to get 500ml of juice onboard with me as part of my cabin allowance.  Not much, but it definitely helped!  I sipped it bit by bit as it defrosted, so it stayed pretty fresh.  Ahhh, how I miss the days when you could take big flasks of juice onto the plane with no questions asked… seems like the dim distant past now..

I also took a big bag of tangerines onboard with me.  I think tangerines are perfect airplane food as they are nice and juicy to keep me hydrated, they’re convenient to pop in my cabin bag, and they’re easy to peel.  Plus some nice vitamin C into the bargain to give my immune system a boost – they tick all the boxes.

Top marks to Qatar

I was pleasantly surprised by Qatar’s wide choice of dietary preferences, which included a variety of different vegetarian platters.  I went with the fruit platter and it was great – nice fresh ripe fruit including melon, berries and exotic fruit to get me in the mood for my holidays.  I was glad I’d brought extra fruit though, because those airline fruit platters are never quite enough to satisfy the average raw vegan 😉

Juice break at Doha

We had a layover at Doha airport for a couple of hours and I was very glad to re-hydrate at Red Mango juice bar.  It’s so cool that airports are offering such great healthy options these days, I feel pretty spoilt with all the lovely juice and smoothie options.

After a welcome stretch it was onto the last leg of the journey, from Doha to Bangkok.  It took 6 hours to get from Edinburgh to Doha, and a further 6 to Bangkok, but the stop halfway through really helped break up the journey.

Bangkok Inn a Day

We got to Bangkok and checked in at our first port of call: the cute and quirky Inn A Day Hotel at Bangkok Riverside.  Each room in this gorgeous boutique hotel has its own theme, based on a certain time of day.  We stayed in the 3pm Tailor’s room, mostly for its stunning views of the Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun) across the Chao Phraya River.

This is a family-run hotel, and the staff are really lovely, they can’t do enough for you.  It was in an excellent location for sight-seeing, right on the riverside in the old town, next to Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha) and the Grand Palace, and not far from lively areas such as Khao San Road.

It also happened to be just along the road from the fab little Make Me Mango café – can you guess what they specialise in?  😉

On the streets

It was also close-by some street food vendors who were selling mangos, jackfruit and pineapples, so I soon got my first taste of Thai fruits – heavenly.  Fresh coconut juice was in plentiful supply everywhere we went, and I also got some pomegranate juice which was sweet and delicious.

Thai street food – a few tips

One thing that was a shame about the street food was the amount of plastic that was used.  Plastic bottles.. plastic bags.. plastic straws (always two straws in each drink as well, which I can never understand, as after all I only have one mouth), it was sad to see so much waste.  For this reason I tended to stick to fresh coconuts (which come in their own compostable container of course!) and whole fruits rather than juice and smoothies.

Another good reason to stick to whole fruits was that you can never be sure of the quality of the juices – especially in the more touristy areas.  I often noticed that the juice sometimes tasted like diluted cordial rather than fresh juice (although it was sold at the same prices!), and it often had sugar or syrup added.

Along the river

I’d initially been a bit apprehensive about visiting Bangkok.  My partner had been keen to spend a few days there as he wanted to do a bit of sight-seeing, but I’d been put off by stories of heavily polluted air and chaotic dangerous neighbourhoods etc, so if I’d had my way I would have opted to get on the first plane straight out to the islands.

I’m really glad I didn’t though because Bangkok was a wonderfully unique experience, and I felt totally safe the whole time I was there.   We got an all-day pass for the river boat so we could hop on and off and visit all the different neighbourhoods along the riverside.  It was the perfect way to spend a day in Bangkok and take in lots of places, and it provided a nice respite from the heavy Bangkok traffic.

We visited the beautiful Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) and spent some time people-watching in Chinatown.  If I went back I’d love to take an evening cruise too, we heard the live bands from our balcony as the boats sailed past at night and it all looked a lot of fun.

For our first night in Bangkok we had dinner at the Bitter Deck restaurant which was right next door to our hotel (how lazy of us!).  We chose it because it had a beautiful outdoor seating area, and we just couldn’t get enough of that spectacular view of the temple across the river.  I had fresh coconut water for starters, organic salad for main course, and tropical fruit for desert.

Out to the beach

For the next part of our trip, out of the many choices we had, we decided to opt for Koh Lanta, a quiet island in the Krabi Province on the Andaman coast.  We stayed in a little bungalow right on Khlong Dao Beach, which was pure heaven!

I had been a bit worried that I’d be eaten alive by big Thai mosquitoes, but I’m happy to report that I seemed to escape most of them!  My next blog will hopefully be about my natural mosquito repelling strategies.

The best

Our favourite restaurant on the beachfront had to be Bambies.  It had an extensive menu of healthy smoothies and salads, and some excellent chill-out areas.  I could happily spend all day lazing about here.

Salad in koh lanta thailand

Salad at Bambies

I also loved the Old House restaurant in the old town.  It was run by really wonderful people and the prices were really good value.  I got a lovely raw vegan salad with sunflower sprouts and a cool refreshing watermelon juice.  Perfect.

Down the road at Long Beach, Irie Bar and restaurant provided a cool friendly vibe with fab live bands, vegan options (including a vegan chocolate desert), and a good choice of juices and smoothies.  The staff here were really great, very funny, they gave the impression they were best friends with every customer.

The worst

Unfortunately not all restaurants were as good as Bambies.  We visited the Rock Bar because it looked really cool, it had kind of a rustic Flintstones vibe with hammocks to chill on and gaze across the sea.  But if you go, go for the views and not the food or the service!  I ordered a pineapple juice and got juice that was obviously straight out of a carton – despite the menu stating clearly that the juices were freshly made.  The service was slow and food wasn’t great either.

We went a second time, thinking it might have been a one-off, but it was even worse!  The service was non-existent, and when I finally managed to order another ‘fresh’ carrot juice, what I actually got was a carrot smoothie which was loaded with added sugar – it was so sweet it was literally undrinkable! (Why is it so many restaurants don’t know the difference between a juice and a smoothie?  It always perplexes me!)

I’m sure most people would love the place though, as it was the perfect chill-out spot, and let’s face it, not everybody is so fussy as I am when it comes to food 😉

Best value

The cheapest way to eat in Thailand is simply to visit the local markets and buy fresh produce.  I couldn’t get enough of the delicious honey mangos while I was there.  There is a huge difference in prices between the outdoor markets and the tourist-frequented supermarkets.

Over on the mainland

After a few days we headed back to the mainland to stay in Ao Nang.  It was more lively here than Koh Lanta, with lots of bars and restaurants and some great live music.  As luck would have it, we were staying right across from the excellent Café 8.98 which had a wide selection of healthy options, including the vegan superfood salad and my favourite, the cacao almond shake.

A bird’s eye view of Bangkok

For our last day we headed back to Bangkok to finish our trip in style at the Banyan Tree hotel with its rooftop ‘Vertigo’ bar overlooking the city.  Our room was on one of the highest floors so we had amazing views of our own.

If you ever stay at the Banyan Tree, definitely use their hotel pool, as not only does it have cracking views of the city, but a nice man comes along every so often giving out free mango smoothies – how nice!

On our last night in Thailand we had dinner at the Mango Tree restaurant, which was lovely.  It was right in the hustle and bustle of the city, but still felt very peaceful inside.  They had great vegan salad options, fresh juice, traditional live music, and excellent service.

Time to leave

I was really sad to leave the sunshine and the beaches, and I wish I’d had more time to spend in Bangkok, as it really felt as though we’d only scratched the surface.  But I was cheered up by the lovely fresh fruit selection at Bangkok airport!  I’ve never seen an airport with such good produce before.  I armed myself with plenty of orange juice to stay hydrated for the flight back.

Hope to see you again soon, Thailand!

A weekend in Glencoe and Fort William

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GLencoe mountains reflected in water

We were lucky enough to enjoy a beautiful sunny September weekend up in Glencoe and Fort William recently.

Glencoe was one of the first places my partner took me when I first came to Scotland. It’s his favourite place, and it’s not hard to see why.  The majestic beauty of the Three Sisters gives the place a real magic that has to be experienced first-hand – no photo can ever do it justice.

Our weekend was loads of fun from start to finish. We went up with a couple of friends and stayed at a gorgeous cottage on the banks of the River Coe.

Our Friday evening was spent at the Clachaig Inn. The Clachaig is a lot of fun – it’s THE place to go when you’re in Glencoe and the atmosphere in there cannot be beaten, especially when they have live music playing.  But I’m afraid the same cannot be said for their menu, when it comes to rawfood options!

There wasn’t a salad option on the menu so I did my usual and asked for a side salad as a main course, without dressing or onions (I have nothing against onions, but many years of having to put up with dull restaurant salads that cost a tenner and are nothing but a load of chopped up onions and a bit of lettuce have led to me harbouring a bit of a grudge against them!).

The salad was the typical boring restaurant attempt; a few chopped up cucumbers, some lettuce, and lots of onions (I didn’t bother complaining as at least it didn’t have dressing!).

But I wasn’t there for the food really – I was there for the craic, and we had a great evening. Then it was back to the cottage to sit outside under the beautiful full moon and attempt (hilariously, yet unsuccessfully) to make a fire.  I then had my ‘proper’ dinner of a salad that I’d made earlier:  lots of interesting flavours with mixed greens and fresh herbs, seaweed, and sprouted seeds.  Filling and tasty – just what I needed!

The next day I got up early and spent a few peaceful hours out on the porch enjoying the morning before everybody else got up. I did some yoga, then made a big pot of yogi tea and sat just chilling, taking in the beautiful scenery around me.  These are the tranquil times that I always remember and love the most about holidays – just sitting and immersing myself in the energy of a new place.

Peaceful morning at Glencoe

A peaceful morning at Glencoe

I knew we’d be out for most of the day so I made some food in preparation. It can be a challenge finding the right food to take on a hike which will provide enough energy for the whole day, without resorting to high-fat or dehydrated foods, or weighing yourself down too much.

I took a litre of green juice in a stainless steel flask, and some chopped-up watermelon in a big container. I also took some dates and celery (I like to chew on celery after eating dates, it feels balancing and also gives my jaws a good workout!).  All this gave me plenty of energy for the day.

We were spending the day walking up to the Lost Valley (Coire Gabhail); the hidden valley where the MacDonalds of Glen Coe hid their rustled cattle.

This is a really interesting walk; lots of climbing and clambouring and crossing of streams, plus some stunning scenery and waterfalls. We were so very lucky with the weather; lovely and sunny but not too hot for walking.

We had a smashing day, taking plenty of photos and having lots of interesting chat – the time flew by and before we knew it we were lying in the glorious sunshine of the Lost Valley feeling very pleased with our efforts!

The next day we went over to Fort William and Ben Nevis. I have to admit, we were lazy and opted for the ‘cheaters’ way to climb Ben Nevis – in the gondola – but don’t tell anybody…

Once at the top we sat in the cafe and watched the daredevil cyclists start their descent down the mountain tracks at breakneck speeds. It was enthralling, and very impressive – I don’t know how they have the nerve to do it.

Mountain biker in Ben Nevis

Mountain biker in Ben Nevis

The cafe holds summer ceilidh nights during July and August, with a live band – I bet that is a lot of fun. Scottish dancing at the top of Ben Nevis – now that’s got to be one for the bucket list 😉

Then it was over to Fort William for a visit to Treasures of the Earth, the Crystal museum. This was a really brilliant experience; it was so fascinating to learn about the history of all the different crystals.  We visited the shop afterwards and went a bit crazy buying moldavite, crystal balls and all manner of trinkets 😉  I highly recommend visiting this place, it’s a real gem (pardon the pun) in the heart of Scotland.

We’re so lucky to have all these amazing places to visit in Scotland. What are your favourite spots?  Let me know in the comments below 🙂