For those of us in Europe, Autumn has announced her arrival by painting the leaves amber and red, and teasing us with sunny moments followed by chilly spells. For many, it’s the time of year where more and more time is spent in doors. Perhaps snuggled up on the sofa with a movie or an inspiring book, or perhaps just spending time with friends, board games and twinkling tea-lights.

It can be tempting in this weather and with these occasions to nibble away at yummy, salt, oily snacks such as potato crisps (chips), but as cosy as these snacks may be, they leave us feeling sluggish, greasy and even perhaps a bit guilty. I also used to find that if I pigged out on crisps I was too full to eat anything healthy afterward.

These days I meet my cravings for salty, oily, crunchy snacks thanks to my great recipe that keeps me away from the things that make me feel bad.

These snacks are so simple and quick to make, don’t require any special equipment, are inexpensive and meet the oily, salty, spicy, tart crunch that crisps offer. You can also play around with the flavors to try and match your favorites of the fried versions!

In fact, these are so simple I am not even going to give you a precise recipe, so that you can adjust it to your own tastes!

Take one courgette (zucchini) and slice into rounds. I like mine about 5mm thick. I happen to have a cool attachment for my mandolin that makes them crinkle cut, so I often use that to make them a bit more fancy. For this picture I peeled away the skin with a vegetable peeler so that they look less green, but usually I don’t bother as it’s both quicker and more nutritious to leave the skin on!

Take your rounds of courgette (zucchini) and add any of the following:

• a good drizzle of oil eg olive, flax, hemp (try just a spray of oil if you are watching your weight)

• lemon juice, apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar (the latter is not raw)

• garlic

• sea salt, herb salt or a spicy salt/spice mix

• nutritional yeast flakes (not raw, but add a great savory , almost cheezy taste plus B-vitamins)

• smoked paprika

• chili flakes

• mesquite (you can find this online here >>)

Give it mix, and munch as they are or dip into a good guacamole, such as  this one >>

I also love using this recipe with chunks of a mild, crispy white cabbage! Here is Sweden they have one called spetskål which is not quite as strong as a regular white cabbage. But regular white cabbage is good too. I seriously can’t enough of this dish. Sometimes I will mix up a big bowl full and munch on it for lunch! My favorite mixture is olive oil plus flax oil (great source of omega 3!) with garlic, herb salt, chili, lemon juice/balsamic vinegar and nutritional yeast flakes.

Courgettes (zucchini) is a good source of folate, potassium, vitamin A and C. Without oil, courgettes are low in calories.

Cabbage is a great source of vitamins K and C, and is also a good source of fiber, B6, magnesium, calcium and other nutrients. Cabbage also has cancer-preventing properties, is low in calories and wonderfully inexpensive!

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Two of the things that help me eat a lot of yummy raw food are:

1. The flexibility I give myself to eat high-raw (about 80% of my food) rather than 100% raw.

If, for example, I use a bought vegan pesto and use a few spoonfuls of that on my raw noodles, then that’s OK with me. These few spoons of not raw ingredients will ensure that the rest of my plate is raw. If I put pressure on myself to make a raw pesto when I don’t have the time, ingredients or the interest, then chances are I might find it a good excuse to not eat raw at all and say ’screw it, if I can’t eat 100% aw then I may as well eat beans on toast’!

2. Raw noodles!

When I ate more cooked food, I would eat a lot of pasta: first regular pasta, then I switched to wholewheat pasta, then gluten-free noodles. After all, pasta is quick and simple to make, and yummy too!

Of course, if I ate some cooked pasta now it wouldn’t be the end of the earth (I might not feel so energized though), but I have found from experience that one can quickly slip back into old habits. ‘Just this once’ turns into ‘well, that was easy yesterday, I’ll just have it one more time’ and soon you are eating cooked food when you can quite easily find a simple, speedy, yummy raw alternative that will not leave you feeling sluggish or guilty!

I can’t even count the amount of times when I have been so close to asking Christoffer to throw in some extra pasta when he has been making some, but then I will remember just how simple it is to make a raw version, and save myself a sluggish evening!

So here is a quick recipe for you. If you are in a hurry then use bought pesto. But please do try and get a non-dairy one. Regular pesto contain cheese (usually Parmesan) and this is very acidifying on the body. When our bodies are acidic we are prone to stress and disease. Look in the ‘Free-from’/special diet section of supermarkets and in health food shops for dairy-free pesto.

To make raw noodles you can either just peel strips off a courgette (zucchini) with a vegetable peeler, and then stack the strips on top of each other and slice into thinner noodles. Or you can use a gadget called a Spiralizer/Spirali or use a special teeth-like attachment for a mandolin. The former can be found online (scroll down for stockists), the latter can probably be found in cookware stores.

Noodles with Parsley Pesto
Serves 1 as a main meal or 2 as a side dish

Make noodles from one large courgette (zucchini), stir in some pesto (recipe below), chopped olives, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, a little salt and pepper and some fresh herbs such as rosemary, basil or oregano. You can also add chopped fresh tomatoes and bell peppers if you like!

Parsley Pesto
Makes about 1 cup (250 ml)

Parsley is high in iron and vitamin C and is also a food source of vitamin A, folic acid, potassium and calcium. This recipe is a great way to add more of this nutritious and tasty herb to your food!

1 cup (tightly packed) parsley
1/3 cup olive oil
¼ cup nuts/seeds (cashew nuts,almonds, sunflower seeds or pine nuts)
1 large clove garlic
Sea salt (or herb salt) and black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Blend everything together using a hand blender, or in a food processor. Give it a taste; add more garlic, lemon or salt and pepper if you think it needs it!

Store in a jar in the fridge for 3 or 4 days.

Stir into pasta or raw noodles, spread on wraps/sandwiches or use as a dip for raw veggies. You can also thin it down with water and use as a salad dressing.

You can find a Spiralizer/Spirali online here:

Råvarubutiken (Scandinavia)

The Fresh Network (Rest of World)

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I am very excited to announce two very cool things!

1. I have just launched an exciting project I dreamed up a few years ago:
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Cafe Inspire: A perky blend of raw cake and inspiring speakers!

This is the place where I will be bringing you raw cake and inspiring events. I will be running both live and on-line events (if it’s an on-line or recorded event then you will be gifted a recipe for raw cake so you can make it yourself!) I don’t have an actual cafe, but will be using various venues around Stockholm, and eventually the world!

2. My first guest presenter is amazing!! In October Kate Magic will be holding 2 raw food classes, full of cutting edge info, gorgeous raw cake (made by Miss Magic!), and lots of lovely books and treats to buy!

So hop on over to Cafe Inspire and find out more!

I have been living in/near Stockholm for over two years now. In this time I have been getting to know the places where you can find raw food. Each time I discover a place, I want to share it with others. If I find a shop near a cinema where you can grab yourself some raw treats and juice to have instead of pop corn and soda then I want others to know about it! If I eat a really good salad somewhere, then it should jolly well be made public! If I walk into a super market and see raw agave, raw coconut oil and raw treats, then surely you would want to know where it is, right?!

So I had this idea. Why not create a site where we can share our favorite raw spots in and around Stockholm? And so Raw Food Stockholm was born. It is my pleasure to launch this site today and share with you the places I have found so far. I really hope others can contribute to it too so that other people can be sure to find raw food when living in, or visiting, Stockholm!

www.rawfoodstockholm.com

Enjoy, dear Reader, and please do pass the link on to others!

I discovered Nakd bars several years ago at a raw food / vegan festival in London. Immediately I fell for the taste, the cheeky packaging (declaring that the bars are “gleefully made in Wales’”) and the nice vibe I got from Natural Balance Foods, the company behind them.

Since discovering their new raw food bars this summer, I have I admit gotten a bit of a crush on this company. I totally love their cheeky little Raw Nakd Nudie bars, especially the Cocoa Orange which offers a perfect little hit of dates, nuts and cocoa (5%, not raw) and tastes truly delicious – and as you know by now, dear Reader, I am rather particular when it comes to my raw treats!.

Apart from the fact these these are yummy-licious raw bars, and are free from dairy, gluten and added sugar, I also love their size. The other bars they do are about twice the size, which is absolutely fine, but having these 35g bars is so very handy. If you are flagging and need a quick boost of energy then one of these bars will keep you going until your next meal. And if you have longer to wait, then eat two! Or three!…

I like to make sure I always have one or two of these in my bag to turn to either when I am hungry, or need a boost of energy, or am out and about and want a raw treat while other people are tucking into cakes and cookies.

So I have been enjoying these on planes, in cinemas (perfect with a carton of Coconut Water, a true treat!), walking down the street (I don’t usually like spoiling a perfectly good eating occasion by walking at the same time, but sometimes we busy girls need to eat on the run), in a park with a take-away peppermint tea, in the car, at my desk, on a walk in the woods…!

Apart from the lovely Cocoa Orange, you can enjoy these bars in the form of: Cashew Cookie, Ginger Bread, Pecan Pie. I think the names are so perfectly descriptive that I don’t think you need me make you drool onto your keyboard by going into too much detail; the best thing to do is try them for yourself.

You can find these cheeky little bars on line from Natural Balance Foods >>>

You can also find them in health food stores and other well stocked shops such as Goodstore >>> on Södermalm in Stockholm – perfect for enjoying in the park next door, or treat yourself to some coconut water (also from Goodstore) for a perfect cinema combo!

I have just returned from a perfectly dreamy week in the UK. Of course the weather didn’t exactly suit the summary wardrobe I had packed (when I left Sweden the temperature had been reaching the 30s (celsius) (over 86 F) for over a week), but then again the UK is not somewhere you go to to get a sun tan!

Me totally blissed out on the gorgeous, blustery welsh coast

What made it so dreamy was my family and the things we did. From just spending a whole day drinking tea and chatting with one of my sisters, to celebrating her birthday with the whole family, to lounging in a health club, going on a yummy shopping spree (a rare event for me to buy clothes and not food!), and a lovely trip to the welsh hills and coast, all mixed in with laughs, hugs and lots of love.

When I stayed with my older sister, we started the day with a fantastic breakfast. First I would make a smoothie using the strawberries from my sister’s garden, and she would make a pot of Pau D’arco tea (great for preventing and fighting infections, excellent when traveling I find) and her gorgeous chocolate ‘power bars’.

Now, we had a bit of a light-hearted disagreement about these power bars. We both agreed that they are out-of- the-universe tasty and satisfying, but I felt that ‘power bars’ sound far too functional and not yummy enough. ‘Superpower bars’ would probably be more apt…because they are chock full of nuts, and raw cacao and nibs, and gojis and dried fruit, and coconut; and not only do they give you a great energy boost and keep you going until lunch time, but they also give you a cheeky little buzz.

And so we would spend the mornings first slurping our banana and strawberry smoothie, that for some reason tasted like a yummy bubble gum, or candy floss (could be thanks to the home-grown organic strawberries), and then chit-chat all morning over our tea and ’superpower bars’. And then to spend the rest of the day ‘doing lunch’ or shopping or soaking in a jacuzzi… well, I smiled constantly for a week!

Flynnie's Superpower Bars

So, I would love to share with you, not only this nice ritual, but also the recipe for the smoothie. I will see if I can extract the recipe for the ‘(super)power bars’ from my gorgeous sister. In the meantime you will just have to use your imagination with the help of this photo!

Candy Floss Smoothie
Serves 2

• 2 bananas
• about 1 C (500 ml) of frozen strawberries
• water
• a pinch of vanilla powder or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

I haven’t had a strawberry and banana smoothie that was as dreamy as this before, so I think it is due to some key things, so follow these instructions carefully!

First, you need to select the perfect banana. It needs to have a few brown flecks on the skin, to make this a yummy and rich smoothie. (I made this with a not so ripe banana one day, and it really wasn’t as amazing!) Peel these, break in to chunks and pop in your blender. Now add enough water to reach the 1 cup (500 ml) mark on the blender jug. Add the strawbs and vanilla and blend until smooth and creamy.(I started by pulsing for a bit to get things going and this seemed to make it nice and frothy) Pour into a pretty glass and share with someone you love!

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When I was younger I was a girl guide. Yep, complete with blue uniform and life-saving badges. I think I stopped going when I got old enough to be aware of the lack of ‘cool’ factor about this activity. But I did learn one thing from my experience as a helpful, if not rather mischievous little girl guide, and that is from their motto ‘Be prepared’.

If I could only give one tip to help people succeed at eating yummy, healthy, energizing food it would be just that: be prepared. We need to plan a little and think ahead to make sure that we always have access to the food that best serves us. If not, then when energy levels drop, or hunger strikes we are at the mercy of convenience stores, vending machines, or the nearest restaurant, which may not even have a salad bar.

If, however, you have thought a little ahead then you will have something to snack on to keep you going, keep your mind alert and keep you away from life-draining temptations. And this pre-planing doesn’t even need to entail a lot of work. Just by buying or ordering in some suitable snack bars to keep in your handbag or desk, you are giving yourself a much better chance at staying true the foods you know keep you happy and healthy. Of course fruit is a great option too, but it’s also good to have something with a longer shelf life so you can have some emergency stashes dotted around your person/office/car/home.

This week I tried a great bar from Juice Mastercalled ‘Veggie Juice in a Bar‘. As they say themselves ”It’s juice…but in a bar”. Made from 100% raw vegan ingredients this yummy, moist bar is packed full of goodies such as dates, almonds, wheat grass juice, green vegetable juice, sea vegetables and algae. No nasties in this bar what so ever. Just yummy goodness, and that’s what we want, right!? Of course, you can’t beat freshly juiced veggies, but having them so conveniently stored in a bar is a fab idea

I liked this bar, not only because it’s packed with juicy raw goodness, but also because all the green seems to balance out the sweetness of the dates. So although it tastes sweet, it has a more of a sweet-savoury taste. I didn’t feel over-sugared by it either, as I can sometimes feel from date based treats.

It has a nice balance of carbs and protein so would make a great snack before or after working out too. I will be stocking up on these for sure. And I am not the only one who has a soft spot for these bars. Last year they won the Best New Food Product Prize at the Natural and Organic Awards.

The bar also comes in a super fruit variety containing acai and goji berries, which I will want to try next. Purely in the name of research, of course!

Oh, by the way, my bar was sent wrapped in paper, which seems to be a good idea as the paper absorbed a little moisture from the bar. So you may want to wrap this bar in a tissue or something if you keep it in your handbag, in case it leaks a little juiciness. I am queen of having to peel squished raisins and the like from my dairy or mobile phone, or tying to get rid of other squashed food stains from inside my handbag, so I can definitely recommend a little preventative action here!

Stock up with a box of the yummy Veggie Juice in a Bar and Super Fruit in a Bar from Juice Master here >>

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Image: Miss Best

Finally, finally the winter grey has disappeared! Gone are all traces of snow, frozen lakes, sleeping trees, and scarily high heating bills. Now I am treated to lush green trees, gently scented blossom, gossiping birds, fluffy bumble bees, and a cheery sun. Just ten days ago I had to wear a warm hat and gloves when I was out for my doggy walk, so now that I can pad around bare foot and in summer clothes, I am truly blissing out!

So, to celebrate the arrival of life here in Sweden, I would love to share with you a yummy, cooling recipe from my e-book ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts’. In fact this is the dessert that made it to the front cover of my e-book!

This frozen dessert is one of six super quick, easy and yummy ‘Ice Dreams’ that I have included in my book. No ice-cream machine needed! If you have a freezer and a food processor you are all set. Pre-freeze the bananas over night or so and when the urge calls throw everything into the food processor and you have a gorgeous dessert in about 5 minutes (including washing up!). Now how cool is that? (ha ha!) And if that wasn’t enough, this dessert is fat-free, and also free from added sugar, dairy, nuts and soya! You can perhaps see why I eat this dessert all the time!

Enjoy, and have a wonderful weekend!

Blueberry Ice Dream
Serves 2-3

6 frozen bananas (slice and freeze for at least 12 hours)
1 cup frozen blueberries
Small pinch of salt
½ teaspoon vanilla powder / 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Allow the bananas to stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften slightly. Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor to make a soft and smooth ‘ice cream’. This may take a couple of minutes, and you will need to stop it a couple of times to scrape down the sides. Serve immediately.

Enjoy this delicious frozen desserts as it is or top with goodies such as:

• Raisins or goji berries
• Chopped nuts (raw, not roasted)
• Dried coconut
• Sliced fresh peaches or berries
• Fresh fruit salad (see page 41 of my e-book)
• Chocolate chips, carob chips or raw cacao nibs
• Agave or maple syrup
• Fresh raspberry sauce (see page 26 of my e-book)
• Nut moja (see page 27 of my e-book) or whipped soya cream
• Chocolate or carob sauce (see page 28 of my e-book)
• Peanut butter dough (see page 30 of my e-book)
• Mix yellow raisins, chopped dates, gojis, raisins – so pretty!
• Melted dairy-free chocolate. Drizzle this on your ice cream. It sets and goes all
crispy.

‘Loving Life – Loving Desserts: 43 delicious, but secretly healthy, recipes to make you smile’ is available from www.miss-best.com

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Image: Johanna Best

If you read my last newsletter then you will know that we have been redecorating our living room. Hardly front page news, I know, but the reason why I am sharing this with you is twofold. One reason is that the gorgeous colour of our walls reminded me so much of a recipe that I wanted to share it with you (see below), and number two is that doing something so ‘mundane’ as redecorating has triggered such huge changes in other areas of my life.

Even before we came to look at the house in December 2008 I took in instant disliking to the living room. The walls were an orange-salmon colour, and the wooden floor and ceiling had an orange tint to them from age, so that the overall effect was, well, rather orange!

However, since we had more urgent projects to take care of when we bought the house, changing this livable, but hideous, room wasn’t a major priority. I realize now that it should have been. Even though we used the room (mostly in the evenings) neither of us actually enjoyed being there, and if Christoffer wasn’t in there, then I would prefer to sit at my desk in my studio than sit in a boring orange room!

So one weekend, a few weeks ago, we could stand it no more, and by the following weekend we had already made a start on ‘project de-orange’. Even though we didn’t finished the project in one day, merely making a start sparked something in our lives. On a practical level, the little furniture that was in the living room (we hadn’t really made ourselves at home there, so there wasn’t much) was relocated during the renovations. But their new homes suited them so well, that suddenly our other rooms had a whole new feeling and function, and our house is consequently feeling more of a home.

But on a more subtle level, we noticed several changes. Firstly, we both felt that we had finally honoured ourselves and that we felt that we ‘deserved’ a nice room. This recognition of our self-worth has trickled into other areas of lives, and I know for sure that my tolerance towards things that don’t serve me well has reduced considerably, and I am making changes to ensure that I treat myself as well as I should.

Secondly, within the following few days opportunities somehow presented themselves to allow me to tick off several big things that had been on my ‘to-do list’ for months. It was really weird. I didn’t have to initiate anything all I had to do was accept the opportunities that we presented to me. And I am not going to even start on how good it feels, for example, to get my accounts in order, or get the car finally fixed and how clearing that mental clutter is allowing new things to grow.

And all these small things are in turn triggering other things inside me, so I feel that there are more exciting changes ahead, both at home and within my business!

The living room is nearly finished, but is still looking like a bit of a building site, so I can’t share any photo’s with you today. I admit that it is a bit trying living around a half-decorated room, but I have been using my techniques for making effective changes that I shared in April’s newsletter to keep me focused, and stop me loosing my enthusiasm.

What I can share with you, however, is that two of our walls are now such a beautiful colour that I just wanted to grab a straw and stick it into the paint bucket and slurp it all up. I haven’t become a paint junkie or anything, it’s just that it looks just like a gorgeous blueberry smoothie. Such a sexy, rich purple colour!

Blueberries are such brilliant a source of anti-oxidants and are just so tasty. I am very lucky because when they are in season, I can pick them from our neighbouring woods. I often munch on them during my walks with Pixie the dog, and she loves them too!

So, dear Reader, here is a recipe for a super quick, yummy and nutritious smoothie for you. Just remember to drink it and not smear it on your walls!

Blueberry Smoothie
Serves 2

2 cups nut milk (you can find a recipe for this in March’s newsletter)
1.5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
2 large bananas (you can use frozen ones for a super thick and creamy drink)
A pinch of vanilla powder, or a few drops of vanilla extract
Ice (if not using frozen fruit and berries)
Half an avocado (if not using frozen bananas and you want a richer smoothie)

Blend it all up and enjoy!

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I have been absolutely delighted to see both the number of my newsletter-subscribers and my blog readers grow in the past couple of months. I often think about you, even thought I may not know you, and I am very conscious about ensuring that I bring you as much value as possible. After all, if you have honoured me with your time by reading my blog, then I want to make sure that you get as much out of it as possible.

With this mind, I would be super grateful if you could complete a short survey of just 10 quick questions, so that I can see where you are now, where you want to go, and how I can best tailor my free recipes and information and my products/courses to suit you.

As a little thank you, you have the option of being entered into a draw to win a copy of my e-book ‘Loving Life-Loving Desserts‘. Just make sure you have responded before Monday 12th April for a chance to win.

Take the survey here to let me know how I can help you, and to have the chance to win a copy of my yummy e-book.

One way that I know I have been able to help people is by sharing my recipes for delicious desserts to make it easier for them to eat healthy food without having to compromise on taste. With this in mind, I also wanted to let you know that my Easter discount on my e-book runs until tomorrow, so if you would like to get access to 43 heavenly healthy dessert recipes for 15% less, do make sure you use the following instructions:

To get your discount scoot on over to this page, select your preferred currency, and add the discount code eat15 at the check out. Discount valid until, and including, Friday 9th April 2010. Enjoy!

I will be posting a tasty blog post as usual tomorrow, so until then, stay healthy and yummy!