simple and delicious

Had a very busy week which meant having choose simple to make dishes for my breakfast.

Slice of sprouted grain bread with a spoon of nut butter and a hard boiled egg on the top, followed my a cup of melon. Fast, easy and delicious! AND it kept me going!

this little dinner got me a bit downhearted with the feeling that the summer is almost over, I do not feel the need of stews and creamy dishes until the cold is approaching. in the other hand, with dishes like this I certainly know that the winter can't be all that bad.

220 g of chicken breast cut into cubes

2 tbs of organic butter

1 onion or 4 shallots

2 tomatoes - chopped

1 bell pepper - chopped

1 cup of organic coconut milk

slowly heat up 2 tsp of organic butter (I should be using raw butter but I don't seem to find that to buy here in London, any suggestions?), add 1 onion or 4 shallots, fry them with some powder garlic and cumin, make sure the butter does not burn and turn brown. Add the chicken, tomatoes and peppers. Once the chicken is cooked add the coconut milk and simmer for about 10 minutes in low to medium heat. Adjust the seasoning with some sea salt and black pepper to taste and serve is in a bed of salad, you could also have it with some brown rice.

looking at this breakfast would you say I am on a diet??? of course not, just as well because I am not, I am working hard on changing my eating habits and make sure that only natural - non toxic - deliciously healthy foods and most definitely am not in a diet.

well...working on the perfect balance between protein, carbs and fat isn't as hard as you might think, specially with a little help from the Diet Solution Program - NOT diet solution that's more like it...I'm feeling great and amazing myself with the fact that I no longer crave foods.

Those that grew up with me know that I have always been a bit addicted to food, talking, thinking, researching and writing about it all the time. Well still write about it and think about it and certainly care about it only now my body seams happy enough for my brain not to full me into eating foods that will not be any food for me.

breakfast today was 1 slice of sprouted wholegrain bread, 1 egg (I "fried" it in a tsp of organic butter - heat the pan slowly, just enough to melt the butter but don't let it burn or turn brown otherwise something extremely healthy actually becomes bad for you. Break the egg and cook until preferred consistency, I like my oaks soft and runny ), 1 slice of bacon and a smooth made of 1 lovely sweet mango and 1/2 cup of organic coconut milk....it will be sooooooo cream and delicious the rest of your day will be just perfect!

and you? any ideas for a healthy and delish breakfast? share with us!

to be or not to be organic?

since I moved to the UK I keep on asking myself what the advantages of organic foods might be. The reason I never had to ask that before is that I grew up eating fresh foods from farmers market there are just about anywhere in Brazil, also in every family there is always the one person with a country house that will bring fresh produce and distribute to all on very much a weekly basis. Of course on the supermarkets you are likely to buy fruit and veggie that were sprayed with pesticides however the very fact that organic natural foods are so widely available and often for a much better price I really never had to think about it.

After a lot of reading I come to a conclusion that if you happy with eating veggies that were sprayed with poisoning and meat coming from animals that were fed hormones and antibiotic then why bother paying more? in the other hand if you are not happy about it then the - not so big - price difference is probably worth the health benefits.

I admit it can be hard to find the right stuff all at the one place and living in a place like London certainly does not help however if you do start by switching meats, poultry and eggs for organic grass fed versions then you are already doing your body a good deal.

when it comes to fruit and veggie,for now, I am concentrating on washing them thoroughly; using vinegar and lime like my mum used to do ad a way to eliminate as much pesticide as possible. Of course it also helps a lot to eat seasonal foods as they are likely to contain less poisoning than those that were forced to grow out of their natural season.

anyways on my pursuit for a better life style i came across this program that not only is based on this idea but on a number of many other very interesting principals my dear friend and acupuncturist Christina Collie rhave always spoke to me about. I'll talk more about the program here, slowly but surely.

Based on all the above my lovely breakfast today was a very simple place of smocked salmon (only salmon and salt no other preservatives) and an organic hard boiled egg. I just seasoned it with salt and pepper a a bit of dry chives with a TSP of extra virgin organic olive oil. the smoothie was made with 1/2 cup of coconut milk, 1 banana and some cinnamon. Just lovely!!!

a couple of weeks ago I discovered this great healthy eating plan names Diet Solution Program, the whole idea is to eliminate processed foods and eat loads of delicious fresh, natural and organic foods that will nourish you and keep you healthy allowing your body to slowly get into the correct weight.

this recipe is just a sample of a great meal that was well within the DSP and still is the kind of thing I would've cooked on a lazy Saturday morning which was the case today.

One thing has to be said, this is no miracle solution, I'm finding relatively easy but have gradually started cutting down on processed foods months ago but I see on the website - they have a really good community as a support tool - that some people struggle a bit, mostly when they went from being junk food addicts to a brand new super healthy life style.

I will be talking a bit more about the philosophy behind this program but for now I leave you with this very simple but super healthy recipe:

OMELET (lactose free by the way, I think for the first time in my life i am eating omelets without lashes of cheese)

2 eggs

1 rash of bacon (make it organic and without Nitrate)

1/2 cup of peppers

1/2 cup of spinach

3 olives

1 shallot

2tsp of butter

salt, pepper and dried chives for seasoning.

beat the eggs with salt and pepper to taste.reserve

put the butter into a cold frying pan (I actually use a wok because mine is non stick) and add the chopped shallots, its important that the pan is cold at the beginning at this will allow the butter to heat up slowly.

do not let the butter go brown, put the shallots to the side and pour in the eggs. add all the other ingredients and then turn the omelet. that is it! read and delicious!!!

I am on a gluten, lactose and grain free week and that is why there was no cheese and I did not serve it with bread.

note: the first 2 weeks you can choose to go gluten and lactose free, this is basically to give me a kick start and after loosing 800g in 5 days I have to say it's working!

I will be back with more details about the ideas behind the program and loads more great recipes!!!