Sun-Dried Tomato Dip

I love when the smell of homemade potato wedges fills my house. Especially with rosemary sprinkled on top. Sometimes I use normal potatoes other days I use sweet potatoes. I love both.

The only problem is that tomato sauces or dips from the shops often have nasties in them such as additives, colours and so forth. Homemade is generally a better choice because you are in control of what goes into your food. It also gives you freedom. Freedom to combine different flavours you might never have tried before. The freedom to add health foods to your food.

In this tomato dip I combined fresh tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes. I made my own sun-dried tomatoes in my dehydrator but you could also buy them if you don't have that option available to you.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup re-hydrated sun-dried tomatoes
• 3/4 cup fresh chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
• 1 clove garlic
• 1-2 tsp fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

1. To re-hydrate the sun-dried tomatoes cover them with water while you add your other ingredients in your food processor.
2. Add all ingredients apart from the tomatoes into your food processor and pulse together.
3. Discard the water and add the sun-dried tomatoes.
4. Add the fresh tomatoes.
5. Process until it results into a rough dip.
6. If you prefer you can add a little water in order to make a smoothie consistency.
7. Serve with some freshly made wedges out of the oven.
8. Enjoy!

Please share this recipe with your friends and family and let me know how you liked it in the comments below.

 P.S. For the next three days you can purchase my cookbook by paying what you can afford. I have set a minimum price of $3 to cover my costs. Click on store in the header or on the side menu. My hope is to reach as many people as possible and inspire others. Your self respect and self love is reflected in the choices you make. Enjoy!

 

Weekend Fun

What I love doing on the weekend is spending time with family and loved ones; it is one of the most important things in life! I found the below quote online about families and thought it was cute

Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts!


How gorgeous and so true; well at least for my family and I tell you I definitely am included in the nuts :)

This morning we celebrated my aunties, my mums and my cousins birthday in Whiteman Park. At first the weather looked a little funny, lots of clouds but we are usually under a shelter so you can still have heaps of fun and enjoy each others company. My family is quite a big one; the current count is 25 :) For the party I made a fruit platter; I love doing them and I think that is why I get asked by everyone for every birthday party to bring one. I find it fun and enjoyable to combine the gorgeous colours of different fruits to combine patterns plus I love the thought of contributing something healthy to the lifes of my family.

The below one is an example of one that I once made for a Christmas get together! It looked fantastic and tasted amazing!

Of course we also had other foods such as eggs, bacon, sausages, home made English muffins (my aunty made them!), homemade crumpets, Bretzels and of course what would a birthday party be without some cakes. I think one of the biggest problems is that so many people nowadays stress about food 24/7. My opinion is that I eat as well as I can every week but at birthday parties I will allow myself to enjoy eggs and bacon for example and I decide to enjoy every bit of it! That is the most important thing that you decide to enjoy the food and don't make yourself feel guilty about it or give yourself a hard time. No one is perfect but we all do our best given the knowledge that we have and the experiences we have had in life.

This afternoon I then decided to indulge in some me time and pamper my feet. Because we currently have summer here in Perth the skin of my feet has been getting very dry. So first of I cut my toe nails and then prepared a foot bath consisting of 2 tablespoons Himalayan sea salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil and three drops of lavender essential oil. I enjoyed the vibration on my feet and the warmth of the water. After I toweled them dry and removed the dead skin. Finally I rinsed my feet and applied some coconut oil. In case that you haven't dried coconut as a natural beauty product I would highly recommend it! It is very moisturizing and I feel how my skin relaxes every time I apply it. You can use it for lots of different things such as facials, as a moisturizer for your hands.. It is without a doubt one of the best oils around in my opinion; I love it!

On Nutrition for training....cutting out highly processed sugars

As mentioned in my earlier post I have decided to follow Stu Mittleman's principles from his book Slow Burn (Burn Fat Faster by Exercising Slower). Stu places a lot of emphasis on consuming many vegetables and cutting out highly processed carbohydrates (such as breads, pastas and baked goods) as well as cutting out highly processed  sugars and coffee.

Highly processed sugars, and brown sugar does also fall into this category,  drain our natural energy and also have a detrimental effect on our health. The problem nowadays is that sugar is in almost everything such as sauces, breads, juice or even salad dressings. We have become so dependent on sugar and most of us rely on it to obtain our daily energy. But that does not mean that it is actually good for us. Sugar has been proven to deplete our bodies of essential vitamins and minerals such as b vitamins (energy metabolism and red blood cell production), magnesium (thinning of blood, energy production, activating enzymes, helps your body to burn fat and sugar) and chromium (necessary for sugar and fat metabolism). The bottom line is if you eat highly processed sugars you will ultimately weaken your  body's immune system and this will foster a breeding ground for viruses, fungi, bacteria and yeast.

Sugar is acid forming in our bodies whereas our body requires an overall slightly alkaline balance. Too much acid can cause poor digestion, constipation, diarrhea and problems with bowel  movements, all of which can lead to weight gain. However it can also affect mental faculties and can affect your ability to for example think clearly or remain focused and can lead to forgetfulness. Your body will easily experience pains and nagging that just never seem to go away.

Another shocking aspect is that too much acid can weaken your bones! Once you throw out the acid/alkaline balance in the body your body will use calcium from the bones in order to neutralise the acids in the blood! And milk might not be the solution to this problem either because your body converts lactose into lactic acid in your body which again results in your body taking calcium from the bones to restore balance in the blood.

This is in a nutshell why I have decided to cut out highly processed sugars. The only sugar that I occasionally now use is Rapadura sugar. Rapadura sugar is dried cane juice and therefore still contains all the minerals and vitamins which makes it a much better choice for your body. (I purchase mine from Eclipse Wholefoods in bulk to make it more affordable at approximately $6.50/kg).

Wherever possible I have also decided to use dried fruits and  fresh fruits to sweeten my food in for example raw food recipes that I prepare.

2012 ING New York Marathon & the Heart Foundation

My newest goal is to run the New York Marathon in 2012 to raise $15,000 for the Heart Foundation!

After completing the Perth City to Surf Marathon, I am now in love with running and was looking for a new goal when I found out about the fundraising for the Heart Foundation. Another one of my passions is health and nutrition which makes this the perfect combination and I am so looking forward to the year ahead!

To date we have raised $1,126!

I did a few morning teas; one at my mum's work and one at my work. Manuel and I also went to the flea markets after we cleaned out our house, which not only gave us a lot more space but raised us approximately $500 for the Heart Foundation. Also quite a lot of people have donated using my fundraising website Every Heart Beat Counts

Manuel has been getting a lot of free stuff on gumtree which we are planning to take to the flea markets again on this coming Sunday 23 October 2011 in Karrinyup to raise more funds for the Heart Foundation!

Please feel free to contact us if you have anything that you  no longer need that we could use to raise funds for the Heart Foundation!

I have also started with my training again and I will be following a different training schedule (by Stu Mittleman) and method this time around. I will be sharing more information on this in my coming posts. I have also put together a plan for my nutrition to make even more positive changes in my life!