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Green Superfoods Juice for the ultimate raw morning

By Lisa Murphy Leave a Comment Mar 8 0

green smoothie

Ever wish there was a way you could supercharge your diet and banish junkfood cravings, before you even have breakfast?

Sometimes it’s a good idea to look at success strategies for other aspects of life and apply them to your eating behaviours.

Motivational coach Brian Tracy has a strategy for success in business that he calls ‘Eat that frog’. The basic premise behind this is very simple: that thing that you need to do today – that important, but difficult thing – is often the thing that you put off the most in favour of the other easier tasks.

So in terms of business/career, an example of this might be that you put off writing another chapter in your book in favour of scrolling through social media or checking your emails for the 17th time.

The book writing just doesn’t seem as fun as checking Facebook.  But the book writing can bring you much more gain, in the long run.

Brian Tracy recommends that you start off with the most difficult task and just get it done. In other words, ‘Eat That Frog’.  Simple, yet highly effective.

I was thinking about this the other day as I made my morning juice and I realised how useful it is to apply that same concept to your dietary routine. I’d recently seen a very insightful Instagram post by Patrick Queen from Euphonic Health, who mentioned the importance of getting your important micronutrients in first, before you move onto macronutrients (eg carbs, fats etc).

It really resonated with me, as I noticed how I’ve fallen into a pattern of doing this quite naturally, by making what I call my ‘superjuice’ every morning. This consists of a green juice which I then blend with various superfoods. I feel it really sets me up for the day.

Now, this green superfoods juice wouldn’t win any fans, taste-wise. It’s not sexy, it’s not sweet, and I’m sure a lot of people would hate it. I personally think it tastes ok, but I’ve got used to it over time. After all, tastebuds get used to whatever you ply them with, pretty much.

But I’m not drinking it for taste. I’m certainly not going to be taking it around to a pot luck any time soon to win people over to the joys of the raw food diet. I simply see it as my morning fuel.

Believe me, I’d be very happy to have a raw chocolate bar for breakfast instead. It’d be tasty and sweet and give me a bit of a buzz. But in the long-term, it just doesn’t feel anywhere near as good as that boring green juice does. With my green superfoods juice fuelling me as I go through my morning I feel centred, calm, and satiated.

So, to apply Brian Tracy’s ‘Eat That Frog’ concept to your eating habits, start off your day with the most nutritionally dense food you can. For me it’s that green juice. For you it might be something completely different. Hopefully you’re not taking me literally and actually eating a frog for breakfast.  But whatever it is, start with it, and you’ll reap the benefits over the day, and over a lifetime.

So how do you make a green superfoods juice? I won’t give you any specific recipes, because everyone has different nutritional needs, and when it comes to superfoods there are so many different types out there that the best idea is to research what you think is best for you.

For me personally, I’m naturally a very ‘up’ type of person whose mind is always on overdrive, so I find it’s really helpful for me to stay away from anything stimulating.  So even though things like coffee, raw chocolate, green tea etc are often thought of as superfoods, they just don’t work for me.

Perhaps this is why the greens suit me so well, as they give me a nice calming magnesium boost.

But to give you a general pointer, I usually start with something like a head of celery, a cucumber, an apple, a handful of sprouts or microgreens, some leafy greens like spinach or lettuce, and a small piece of ginger.

I juice all these then add them to the blender with a big spoonful of green superfood powders such as chlorella, kelp, tulsi, etc. I also add in some (pre-soaked) Irish moss and a good quality wholefood supplement. I might also add a spoon of pre-soaked/sprouted seeds such as chia, flax, sesame etc.

I tend to go through phases with my superfoods, using different ones depending on whatever takes my fancy.  Here’s a picture of one of my typical green superfood juices, from my Instagram page (feel free to follow me for more raw recipe inspiration):

Green smoothie

Green Superfood Juice

So – what’s your favourite raw super-breakfast? Let me know below!

How to grow your own microgreens

By Lisa Murphy Leave a Comment Dec 24 0

Would you like to grow your own microgreens but never seem to get around to it because it just feels like it will be too much work?  Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s really easy, doesn’t take much time, and at the end of it you get your very own home-grown baby greens, bursting with flavour and nutrition – what more could you ask for?

What are microgreens?

I’m glad you asked 🙂  Microgreens are young green leafy plants that have not yet grown to maturity.  They are one step up from sprouts.  If you can sprout it, then you can grow it into a microgreen.  Unlike sprouts however, microgreens need soil and light in order to grow.

Microgreens are an ideal addition to any self-respecting raw foodie’s diet, as the young tender leaves are perfect for eating raw (in fact, cooking is not recommended as they are so delicate) and they won’t contain the anti-nutrients that more mature plants can develop over time.  Not only that, research has shown that they contain 4 – 40 times more nutrients than mature plants.

AND they’re so tasty!

How to get started

To begin, you will need a box or tray of some kind.  Any size will do, depending on how much you want to grow, and how much space you have.  Just use anything that you can put compost in.  I usually use these kind of trays, but you could adapt any old crate that you happen to have lying around.

It’s best to use one tray with small holes for drainage, then place it inside another tray without holes to catch the water, especially if you’re planning to grow your microgreens indoors.

Line the tray with a couple of inches of compost, water it lightly (it should be damp, but not too wet), sprinkle the seeds on top, then cover with another thin layer of compost.  You don’t need to space the seeds out like you would when growing mature plants; you can scatter them quite thickly.  You’re aiming for the seeds quite close together, without them getting too crowded and actually touching.

You can cover the trays with a lid in the first few days, as this helps retain moisture and speed up the germination process.  Water them as often as necessary, not too much.  After a couple of weeks your microgreens should be ready.

Where should I grow them?

Find a warm bright place such as a sunny windowsill.  It also helps to have a good source of ventilation, to avoid mould.

What kind of microgreens should I grow?

Some of my favourite microgreens include:

Snow pea greens

Good source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and folic acid

Sunflower greens

Another rawfood classic – have a read of this informative website for a list of benefits

Radish and broccoli

I love these because they’re so hardy and grow so easily – not to mention their super-duper nutrition.  They’re a pretty strong and spicy taste.

Fenugreek

Adds a tasty curry flavour to your salad

And not forgetting – the mighty wheatgrass!  This is a fantastic microgreen to grow so you can enjoy all the benefits of fresh wheatgrass juice.

There are plenty more types of seeds you can try, so have a play about and see what suits your taste buds.

Should I soak the seeds beforehand?

If you’re familiar with sprouting, you might be wondering whether you should soak the seeds in water first.  This is optional really; I’ve grown microgreens successfully from soaked and unsoaked seeds.  One nice advantage to soaking them first is that you can enrich the soak water with minerals and enhance the nutrition of your plants.  A simple way to do this is to add a tiny pinch of sea salt and let it dissolve in the water.

Having problems growing your microgreens?

Check out this website, it lists some great solutions for issues such as mould and slow germination.

Good luck with your microgreens!  I hope this article was helpful for you 🙂

to superfood or not to superfood? my thoughts…

By Emma Leave a Comment Jan 3 3

Maca, Reishi, Cordyceps, Algae, Baobab, Chlorella, Ho Shou Wu…

 

No, these aren’t the names of the 7 dwarfs in some far flung Asian country,  these are just a very small selection of the superfoods currently available and widely ‘used’ by raw foodists across the lands. 

 

But what’s the deal with these so called superfoods?  Do you really need them in your life?  Do they enhance the raw food diet?

 

 

Well, yes and no.

« Continue »

Gló & raw food in Reykjavik

By Emma Leave a Comment May 19 2

Yo yo!  Yesterday I had a dander about checking out some health food shops for raw food in Reykjavik.  I’m choosing to get out of this mentality that I’m on a long holiday and actually buy some stuff to make food in the apartment rather than eat out all the time, tempting as it is!

I found loads of superfoods and amazing raw foods check it out:« Continue »

Elwin Robinson – super smoooooothie mix

By Emma Leave a Comment Jan 4 8

I got some of Elwin Robinson’s Taoist Tonic Supersmoothie Mix from his smashing website Lion Heart Herbs.  Elwin has put together an amazing range of tonic herbal teas to alleviate all kinds of health challenges.  I’ve been drinking his  Cleanse tea for a few weeks now and can really feel the benefits.  Elwin produces 5 different herbal super tea blends including Cleanse, Immune, Rejuvenate, Serenity and Strength.  He has a video about each of the teas on his website to tell you what they include and the benefits, definitely check it out!  Herbal teas are such an amazing way to get goodness and vitality in to the system from ancient and revered plants across the universe.« Continue »

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ABOUT

Lisa Murphy BSc.(hons), PG Dip. Couns., Dip.C.Hyp/NLP, is a hypnotherapist & counsellor who specialises in weight issues, anxiety, and stress-management.

Lisa has followed a rawfoods lifestyle since 2003, and incorporates rawfood support and coaching into her healthy living therapies.

For more details of Lisa’s therapies and weight-loss courses please visit www.CherryTherapies.com

 

Love Raw Food?
SIGN UP for free updates, tips and inspiration - AND get my free RAWFOOD TRAVEL SURVIVAL KIT, full of tips & tricks for when you're on your trips!
Your details are safe with us. We will only send the emails you have signed up for, and you can unsubscribe at any time. More details in the Privacy Policy link at the bottom of the page.

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