The Power of Purple

This morning I made a beautiful, vibrant purple juice made from Kale, Apples, Orange, Beetroot, Carrot and Ginger!

After having this lovely morning juice I managed to plough through a whole heap of uni work. I felt concentrated, focused and energized. Not only was I mentally prepared for the day I felt light within myself. Often when I have a bowl of cereal I can feel heavy and a bit sluggish, but not today! Today I was delicate and felt like I could move easily.
For anyone that is interested here are the nutrients that were in my juice this morning

Nutrition Facts (Juiced)
Calories 326 Calories from Fat: 29.02
	% Daily Value *
Total Fat 3.22g	9.21%
Saturated Fat 0.384g	1.92%
Monounsaturated Fat 0.243g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.116g
Cholesterol 0mg	0.00%
Sodium 222mg	14.83%
Potassium 2264mg	48.17%
Total Carbohydrate 84.17g	64.74%
Dietary Fiber 1.9g
Sugars 44.31g
Protein 14.91g
Vitamin A 1604µg	178.27%
Vitamin C 381.5mg	423.87%
Calcium 468mg	46.79%
Iron 5.19mg	64.87%
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.
Vitamins
Choline 33.9mg	6.16%
Folate 264µg	66.08%
Niacin 3.958mg	24.74%
Riboflavin 0.504mg	38.75%
Thiamin 0.487mg	40.61%
Vitamin B-12 0.00µg	0.00%
Vitamin B-6 0.995mg	76.51%
Vitamin D 0IU
Vitamin E 0.98mg	6.55%
Vitamin K 1737.2µg	1447.71%
Minerals
Copper 3.936mg	437.32%
Magnesium 179mg	42.61%
Phosphorus 336mg	48.00%
Selenium 3.9µg	7.03%
Zinc 2.13mg	19.40%
Other
Caffeine 0mg
Theobromine 0mg
Water 654.35g
All nutrient values are calculat

So from the vitamin -6 I was able to feed my brain functioning as well as build up antibodies to fight any winter cold that might be going around! 

A vitamin that not many people know about is vitamin K - it is essential for building healthy bones and preventing heart disease. So I definitely got my fill today!

If you want to find out about whats in your juice go to this site 

http://juicerecipes.com/health/benefits/juicing-for-weight-loss/?page=2

and go to ingredients and enter yours into the builder. 

ENJOY YOUR JUICING ! 

Vegetables

Today I was greeted by a bag of free fresh veg at my front door on my way home from volunteering. It genuinely made my day! There was beetroots, swede, carrots, cabbage, potatoes and onions! I couldn't believe it.
On the subject of vegetables, I think that it is really important to know why they are so good for you. I have been very lucky in that my Dad is passionate about health and living well so I have to say I am well aware of their benefits.
But, I find that with many people that I encounter seem to have little knowledge about this at all. My personal opinion is that this is probably because there are no educational schemes available in schools really, which if I had my way would be the first thing to change!
Anyway, the point is that it is important, in my eyes at least, to have some knowledge and understanding about the food you are putting in your body and what it is, or isn't, going to do for you!
Take vegetables, they have no cholesterol, heaps of vitamins and minerals and practically no bad calories! Not to mention the fiber you get from them. Plus by eating vegetables, as part of a balanced diet of course, you actually feel fuller for longer (not quoting Marks and Spencer here!) because you aren't eating empty calories like crisps and other snacks!

Rant over, but seriously, if you want to look after your body and enjoy a better, healthier life then take time to educate yourself on food, we can't rely on anybody else!

Halloween Treats

In the Halloween spirit my flatmate bought a HUGE pumpkin! But she didn't use it and so now i am faced with a challenge !
So far I have roasted the seeds, made pumpkin curry and now a pumpkin smoothie !
The smoothie was gorgeous - almost like Christmas in a cup!
If you have a left over pumpkin why not try this morning smoothie recipe, it is sure to keep you fulled 'till lunch;

2 cups pumpkin
1 cup vanilla yogurt (or plain if you like ! )
dash of milk (adjust to your thickness liking)
1 teaspoon of nutmeg , or any other wintery spices like cinnamon.

I made mine with soya milk and yogurt which resulted in an extra creamy texture - but i'm sure you will get the same with regular milk and yogurt!

For those of you that are interested here are some of the health benefits of pumpkins ! :)

- it has very low calories but gives you loads of dietary fiber
- you will get lots of vitamin A, great antioxidant! Great for the healthy and glowing skin.

If you wanted to know how to roast the seeds; 

- wash off any membrane left from the pumpkin flesh

- dry thoroughly ! 

- toss in a little oil and spice or flavour of choice

- put in the oven at 180 degrees C for about 10 min or until golden and crispy ! 

Breakfast Date

This morning I was lucky enough to share a beautiful breakfast with my good friend Camie who made some lovely blueberry pancakes with fresh coffee and, of course,I brought the juice!
Our juice this morning was;

- 4 oranges
- 2 larger carrots
- thumb of ginger

I have to say we both enjoyed it very very much !
But, even better than the juice were the pancakes! To go with the bursting bubbles of blueberries, we had peanut butter, raspberries, cream cheese, honey, maple syrup and jam!!!! How delicious!
So here is a photo for all to see!!

Juice on the go!

So this morning I decided to snooze my alarm for 30 minutes!! BAD IDEA! This left me rushing to get out of the house for work, which was a crazy 12 hour shift !
No picture of my juice today but the ingredients were;

- 2 pears
- 1 small beetroot
- 1 medium carrot
- thumb of ginger

I found this one to be extra filling which was just what I needed for my long day! Plus it was pretty cold out there today and so the ginger put a warmth in my tummy !

Not my juice, but still a lovely picture anyway - one that should get you inspired to join the juicing bandwagon !!

Natural Nightcap

After doing my workout later than I had hoped today I felt a little too alert to be falling asleep. So after an hour or so of writing my uni notes I still wasn't feeling any sleepier !  Then it occurred to me, there must be a juice for this! I logged onto www.juicerecipies.com (great website by the way) to find the sweetly named 'Sleepy time Juice'. The original recipe was simply celery and honey, though from my past experience I am not too keen on celery on it's own and so I added a couple of a bit overly ripe pears.
Honestly, I didn't think it would be so delicious ! I'm sipping it now as I type and, my gosh is it relaxing. It has a creamy texture from the pears and a lovely sweetness from the honey.
If you, like myself, are struggling to sleep or aren't really that tired when you want to go to sleep then why not give this a try?
Here is the recipe;

4 celery stalks,
2 pears
1 teaspoon of honey

Juice the celery and pears, then stir in the honey :)