My food obsession – rye bread

You should think that after having lived in London for a good eight years I shouldn’t have cravings for Danish food any longer and I don’t, apart from rye bread and pickled herring (who would gave guessed that one).

I absolutely love food and don’t stick to one particular type or culture of food however, when I want something comforting I always go back to what made be happy as a child. So it’ll probably come as no surprise that the two things I always ask my parents to bring is pickled herring (any variety) and rye bread:
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Rye has been named part of the world’s healthiest foods due to it’s nutritional benefits and disease preventing goodness. I believe that every body reacts differently to food however, my body loves rye bread as it keeps my cravings at bay, keeps me fuller for longer and it helps my digestive system. I like a healthy selection:

The only trouble is that it disappears too quick when I have it in my house so I’ve decided to start making my own. So today I started the ‘starter’ and will keep feeding it 25g rye flour and 35g water each day until it’s ready to use.

I admit it’s not the most attractive thing in the world but it will be worth it. I will of course keep you updated with how it turns out – what’s your good obsession?

London, this one’s for you!

It’s a tough one to crack sometimes, I should know – the countryside or city life? Well, what if you don’t have to choose?

This week has been one of incredible highs in the city of London. I’ve been part of something pretty awesome with work, met some of the social world’s most inspiring people and worked with an amazing team.

After eight years of living in one of the world’s most inspiring cities I still fall in love with its harsh, cool and yet welcoming atmosphere. Who says early morning starts are so bad http://instagram.com/p/tW3gb4RuO5/

There is always something to discover and as I walked down Bricklane with the crew from Alternative London I realised that you never stop discovering things in The Big Smoke. Who knew that there is art on most posts in Bricklane made by a 62 year old east end metal worker? I didn’t, but it blew my mind:

People always say to look up when you walk in a city but yet most, including me, look down. I’ve made a promise to myself to start looking up, love the city I’m in and appreciate how truly amazing it is to see this place develop each day.

Thank you London, this one’s for you!

What do you love about your city?

The fruit of our labour – eating what nature has on offer

The whole idea of moving to the house on the lake was to enjoy the outdoors a bit more, live a healthier and happier lifestyle and have more space. We have all of this but what I didn’t foresee was all the wonderful fresh food readily available on our doorstep – by the way, this is now our doorstep ;-):

As you know from my recent thoughts on how to destress during the evenings I love I good walk around the lake. Recently I’ve indulged in these tasty blackberries:

which I incorporated into my breakfast (yum):

These delicious little plumbs were a welcome surprise and were enjoyed as a snack:

However most incredible of all was these delicious crayfish, which Welly turned into an oh so tasty pasta dish with a crayfish bisque:

Knowing that the nature around us is so full of life and goodness makes me even more aware of how important it is to be living an eco friendly lifestyle and using natural products!

I can’t wait to see what else is around the corner as the seasons change.

DIY – slow and steady wins the race

DIY – it’s rewarding, fun, exciting and grownup but it’s also slow, hard work and a little frustrating at times, mainly because it’s stuff we can’t do ourselves!

My good friend over at Let Her Eat Clean once said to me ‘slow and steady wins the race’ so that’s what I’m standing by and letting the experience of doing up our first house together be an enjoyment!

I’m learning new skills, which is great and putting late victorian features back into the house on the lake is so rewarding. My latest project has been restoring a fireplace for the second bedroom – this eBay wonder that Welly won:

Paint stripper in hand, protection sorted – it all began:

Two hours and two layers of paint later:

Four hours and four layers of paint later (I was starting to wish I had just applied a fifth layer of paint at this stage):

Meanwhile Welly had made room for the fireplace by exposing the original ‘hole in the chimney’:

And it went in, got sanded down and got plastered up:

Now we just need to sand the floors, paint the room, put a radiator back in, put down vintage victorian tiles, paint the fireplace and most importantly decorate the room. It might sound like a lot but we’re more than halfway there and it’s all still pretty exciting 🙂

Are you living the DIY dream?

Deliciously Ella reblog: How to Eat Plant-Based Protein

I love Deliciously Ella’s blog and when I saw her how to eat plant-based protein blog post I immediately knew I wanted to share it with all of you 🙂

I’m not one of those people who NEED meat at every meal but Welly is so when I’m home alone, do breakfast or even a snack I often don’t include fish or meat.

I loved this bean stew:

Or my banana, cinnamon, egg and flaxseed pancakes:

And even my simple breakfast:

However, I’m not a vegetarian or vegan as you can tell but I love getting inspiration from people who know what they’re talking about – so here goes, enjoy!

Advice: How to Eat Plant-Based Protein

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What is the difference between plant and animal protein?
Proteins are made up of chains of amino acids. There are 20 amino acids in total and our bodies are able to produce some of these for ourselves (non-essential amino acids). However, there are 9 that you can only get from the food that you eat. Most people seem to think that plant-based protein sources don’t provide you with ‘complete’ protein sources and that you need animal protein for this, but there are several foods that include all 9 essential amino acids, so they are complete protein sources – these include quinoa, pumpkin seeds, chickpeas and black beans . Then there are lots of plant-based foods that contain a mixture of the essential amino acids, so by eating a variety of these delicious foods you can eat all the essential amino acids and your body will have everything that it needs! Animal protein is also harder to break down and digest and it moves through the digestive tract much slower, so a steak won’t make you feel as energised as a bowl of hummus, plus animal protein is much more acidic and the more alkaline the food we eat is the better we feel!

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Where can I find protein?
There’s protein in so many different sources, the list below outlines the best protein sources – all of which are so delicious! My advice would be to try adding at least one of these sources to every meal, you should find that it really energises you.

Beans and Pulses

Kidney Beans
Chickpeas (think lots and lots of hummus)
Black Beans
Lentils
Bean Sprouts
Grains

Buckwheat
Quinoa
Oats (a great excuse to eat bowls and bowls of porridge!)
Brown Rice
Vegetables

Broccoli
Peas
Avocado (hello guacamole for every meal)
Spinach
Kale
Any other green leafy veg, swiss chard, cavelo nero etc
Brocoli
Nuts & Seeds

…./ continue reading at deliciouslyella.com