About Me

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Hello, dear viewer, and thank you for visiting my blog! I am a dedicated (and certified) Food Coach and Personal Trainer with a very individual attitude to coaching. I search to look beyond people's health issues and modify their lifestyles so that they can live a healthier life, increase vitality and longevity. Recently as a strong believer in natural healing I have published two books on Ayurveda and how to use Ayurveda lifestyle and food at home. Further, I am very much into TCM and the concept of original Chinese Food, especially after my recent stay in China. I am striving to become a Yoga expert through intense training and am practicing some kind of exercise every single day. My second blog http://thrumyeyes-kat.blogspot.com/ is dedicated to my passion to capture the world with my camera and create my own world like that. Everything you will find on these pages about nutrition and exercising is authentic and self-tested. Enjoy and don't forget to send me your comments, which are always welcome in my attempt to meet your expectations even better!

Monday 30 May 2011

Healthy May drink - fight the heat

Dear readers,

last week I spent in Germany and it did not feel like summer might be coming up at all...Hamburg, 11C, hail...but I can tell you, summer IS approaching and especially in the Southern hemisphere we are already facing temperatures over 40C combined with humidity. Which makes you want to drink all day long. Which also is a necessity as we are starting to sweat much more and our bodies off and on just need to be cooled down a bit, especially if we are outside a lot!

And then the complaints are starting..."Water is boring, I don't want to drink water all day, I need something tasty.." and so on. The last thing you want to do though is chug down some sugary drink, which in the end will make you feel even thirstier and add some nasty calories onto your daily food regime.

Following a few refreshing drinks in order to make your liquid intake less boring:

A very easy and very effective option is freshly squeezed watermelon juice! Extremely thirst quenching, add some lemon and some fresh mint leaves and have a jar ready in your fridge.




Further we have:


Green Tea! Prepare a strong brew and add for example just lemon juice, put the jar in the fridge and enjoy the cool refreshment. Another option is adding some Mango Nectar (sugar free) and some sprigs of fresh mint, leave it to cool and refresh! 

Easier than all of that: pour a big bottle of sparkling water into a jar over a lot of fresh mint or a freshly squeezed lemon. Delicious!  


Maybe it would not cross your mind thinking of summer drinks, but there is always cucumber (not an option for Germany at the moment! Sad, but true!). Cucumbers contain Vitamin C (surprise!) and important antioxidants. You can mix some chunks into your fresh watermelon juice or prepare as follows:



Cut up a cucumber into small chunks, cover in the amount of water you want to drink and let it soak in the fridge overnight. In the morning, strain the mixture and discard the chunks. 
Adding mint makes the drink even more cooling and refreshing, just let it soak with the cucumber chunks in the water overnight. I also like to add a squeeze of lime before serving.



I find these drinks not only very healthy, but also very addictive and like to keep big jars or bottles of them in my fridge! 

 






 

Sunday 15 May 2011

Health food - Asparagus

Dear readers,

in my native country, Germany, with May always comes the culinary excitement of asparagus and strawberries. I am talking white, thick asparagus and red, tasty strawberries fresh from the field!

In every other part of the world we mostly find the green asparagus, which has a completely different, more nutty and bitter taste and can be prepared in endless variations. Be it in a light Chinese garlic sauce, in an oven-bake with grated cheese and yogurt, in a salad with fresh greens and cherry tomatoes...no end to asparagus fantasies.



Let us have a quick look at what exactly this green vegetable brings you in terms of nutrients, which this overview found on www.harvestofthemonth.com shows very nicely:






Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: ½ cup asparagus, cooked (90g)
Calories 20
Fat & Cholesterol free obviously!
Sodium 13mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 4g 1%
Dietary Fiber 2g 7%
Sugars 1g
Protein 2g
Vitamin A 18% 
Vitamin C 12% 
Calcium 2%
Iron 5%

So, this tells us that we are dealing with a good source of Vitamin C, further we find Vitamin K and folate and it is a very important supplier of anticancerous antioxidants

One beautiful recipe, which I love to prepare and to enjoy as it is so healthy, nutritious and delicious, makes you feel just like springtime:

Green Asparagus with Poached Egg with Polenta and Spring Onions 

(Serves 2)

1 pack green asparagus spears
4 spring onions
2 tbsp polenta, quick-cooking
1/2 cup veggie stock
2 eggs
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp organic olive oil
2 tsp organic truffle oil if you have (adds that extra twist)

Freshly ground black pepper, some coarse sea salt 

Prepare the Polenta according to the cooking instructions.

 Vegetables: Slice spring onions, using as much of the green tops as reasonable. Trim and roll-cut the asparagus into 2,5cm lengths. Heat 2 tsp olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the spring onions and asparagus and stir-fry until crisp-tender.
Eggs: Prepare the poached eggs with the vinegar.
To serve: Spoon polenta on to 2 plates, spreading it out into a circle.  Top with a poached egg.  Spoon asparagus and spring onions around the egg, grind black pepper and some coarse sea salt over the egg, drizzle with truffle oil and serve.


 

Wednesday 11 May 2011

Nutty recipes

Dear readers,

following my recent post, today I will entertain you with some nutty recipes:

First of all a very simple bread spread....

Green Olive & Almond Spread (serves 6 as an appetizer)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup pitted briny green olives
  • 1/4 cup unsalted (organic) almonds
  • 1 teaspoon fresh herbs to your likings
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
          • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil


And for all pasta lovers amongst you.....

Wholegrain pasta with walnut-tomato-pesto
(4 servings)

1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup slightly crushed walnuts
2 cloves garlic
6 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red-pepper flakes or some red pepper pieces 
6 Tbsp olive oil
12 oz wholegrain pasta (you know that it's good for you...)

Chop basil, walnuts, and garlic in food processor. Add tomatoes, cheese, salt, and red pepper. Pulse to combine, scraping down sides. Drizzle in oil with machine running. Process to a coarse paste. Cook pasta per package directions. Add 1 cup of cooking water to processor and pulse until smooth. Toss pesto with drained pasta in warm pot. If you do not have a food processor, use a knife and a fork as I do :)


Enjoy your health food!!!

Sunday 8 May 2011

Health food - Going nuts

Dear readers,

Happy Mother's day to all of you dedicated mums, who celebrate it today!!!

Today...let's go NUTS! There's often a bit of confusion regarding nuts as people tend to consider them too fat to include them into their daily diet. Yes, nuts ARE fat and your daily amount should not exceed a small handful of mixed nuts and seeds per day, but they provide us with extremely valuable calcium, phytoestrogens and omega-3 fatty acids. So, think bone food, hormonal balance, healthy brain cells and cancer prevention!!

Obviously I am talking about unsalted, unroasted natural, if not organic, nuts and seeds! 


Know your nuts as each of them provides you a different package of goodness:


-ALMONDS are cholesterol lowering
-BRAZIL NUTS are full of anti-cancerous selenium
-WALNUTS are a fantastic vegetarian source of Omega 3
-PEANUTS (they are not a member of the nut family, but are legumes!) are full of manganese
-SEEDS are full of vitamin E and a lot more (think linseeds/sesame seeds/pumpkin seeds/sunflower seeds)
-PUMPKIN and SESAME SEEDS contain phytoestrogens, which may be able to ease menopausal symptoms and can help to increase male fertility.
-LINSEEDS also contain phytoestrogens, which can help reduce menopausal problems and correct your hormonal balance.



All nuts are packed with the above mentioned plus vitamin E and contain iron, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and copper. 

What do I do with nuts?
Nuts can be added to your salads and sauces, to your morning porridge or put ground nuts and seeds through your fruit smoothie. Nut pastes spread on wholemeal bread or oatcakes are delicious and filling. Tahini paste made with ground sesame seeds is a useful cooking ingredient found in houmous and other Mediterranean dishes. 
And if you forgot to add them to any of your meals, just have a mixed handful of goodness in the evening, chew it thoroughly and enjoy the benefits!
 
No wonder squirrels are such healthy active little chaps...... 

If you are a calorie-counter check out this helpful page:
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/calorie_counter/nuts_seeds.htm