Warm Curry Quinoa Mushroom and Broccoli Salad Recipe

What a great week it has been! Powered through another three chapters for my Juice Therapy Qualification, caught up with many wonderful people and so much good as well as healthy food! And of course in between Manuel and I did some running too!

I went to a informative information night about Raindrop Technique which is essentially similar to some of the massage techniques out there and uses therapeutic grade essential oils from Young Living. To summarise it into a few words I was blown away with all the potential benefits and the whole room just smelled divine! I have ordered myself some of the Young Living oils and am having so much fun trying them out and using them for different purposes. Please feel free to let me know if you would like me to share more information on these in future posts.

This morning I enjoyed a chia pudding made with hazelnut and poppy seed milk. I also stirred through some vanilla bean paste and maple syrup. The vanilla and nutty flavours from the milk were a match made in heaven and kept me full until lunch time in combination with the fresh carrot, broccoli and lemon juice. If you nourish your body with the right foods it will shine for you!

As some of you would have seen on my Facebook Page I tried a new recipe for a warm quinoa salad with mushrooms and broccoli and even though it is fairly basic in the ingredients it was delicious with the warming curry spices, so satisfying on a colder winter's night. As promised I will be sharing this recipe with you in this post.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cups dry quinoa
• water 
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 onion
• 1.5 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 4 large mushrooms, sliced
• 200g broccoli florets 

1. First place the dry quinoa in the bowl and cover with double the amount of water (you want to have a 2:1 ratio of water and quinoa)
2. Cook the quinoa for 25 minutes on 100 degrees speed 1.
3. Strain and set aside in your ThermoServer.
4. Next add the onion and chop for 3 seconds on speed 7.
5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
6. Next add the coconut oil, spices, broccoli and mushrooms.
7. Saute for 10 minutes on 100 degrees reverse speed soft.
8. Mix with the quinoa and serve warm!

What foods do you enjoy most in winter?

The 2013 Ahead

How do you like my version of the V8 juice? Tomato base with many great veggies!

About a week ago I completed a 7 day juice detox! Wow what a way to start the new year I can tell you, my energy levels went up, mental clarity and overall well feeling. I love doing my juice detox. I completed three last year and fell in love with them. Yes at first they can be a bit scary especially because we are just so used to eating foods all the time but the thought of just liquids can be daunting. I have been there and even my husband. But I am so proud of him, he also completed the detox with me and has had many amazing results in the past such as vein problems disappearing where medication didn't change the situation at all. 

 Balance

The other day I was thinking about the year ahead and any goals or aims as well as new habits that I would like to introduce on an ongoing basis. One of my main focuses currently is balance in my life, since changing my role at work life has had a tendency to become increasingly hectic and even though I try hard I want to put some good habits into place to ensure more balance and that I am more connected with myself. I am sure you would know that whenever you are at peace things just tend to almost flow beautifully even effortlessly, so that is where these thoughts developed. 

I would like to introduce one meditation session and one yoga session daily for these very reasons. I have a few DVDs and audio files that will help me but my main tool I think will be "My Yoga Online" because there is new sessions released every week and it offers an enormous variety. I love variety and discovering new things all the time which is why this website has been great for me since I joined about a year ago.

Fitness

This year I want to complete even more running events and I would love to become an ambassador for one of my favourite sports brands. To run more I have joined the Western Australian Marathon Club and this weekend we will be doing our second event this year! It is brilliant because there is so many varied distances and events that they organise so that even if you just want to move your body or start out it is a great way to start. My aim is to complete at least 2 events a month. Also we have been offered a spot at the New York Marathon later in November because we missed out last year due to the hurricane. I am super excited about that!

Health

That was an area I wasn't really sure about until this morning. Now I know my aim is to include one green smoothie and a fresh juice daily. In the past I have experimented with the green smoothies quite a lot but never really made a full habit out of it. Rotating the greens and fruits for the smoothies will be a key to success I believe but we will see as I progress and trust me I will keep you updated through my blog ;)

This morning I had one whole cos lettuce, 2 mangoes and 6 kiwis blended with some water. Absolutely amazing on the taste front and I already had one whole lettuce for breakfast!

Future Direction

As most of you that regularly read my blog would know I have commenced a course to become a Natural Juice Therapist which I am doing through Jason Vale in the UK. My aim is completion of this course and I have already enrolled to do the Juice Academy which is a required part for full certification.

I have also commenced writing a cookbook about cooking without white refined sugar! This is one of my very exciting projects for 2013 and I can't wait to share it with you down the track! In this world white sugar is in almost everything and not many people are aware of the damage they are doing to their bodies over time. Therefore it is about time for a cookbook that gives healthy alternatives for sweets and treats.

How is your 2013 looking?