Pumkin and Spinach Brown Rice Penne

I have been trying to move away from the pre-packaged 'gluten free' brands of pasta due to a lot of unnecessary ingredients and I have been playing in the bulk bins at the organic store. My newest find has been brown rice pasta. As with most gluten free pasta it is still a little fragile, but when you get it right it is just delicious. Here is a simple recipe to add as a side to your salad. Remember brown rice is slightly acidic so you want to team it with a big plate of greens so you meal is alkaline :) Try it with my Tomato Quinoa Salad as seen in the picture above.

Tomato Quinoa Salad

This is a great side either on its own or on a bed of spinach or kale. You will see in the pic I have teamed it with the yummy Pumpkin and Spinach Brown Rice Penne.

Have you fallen off the health wagon?

When you start shifting all the toxic elements out of your life, it is amazing how in tune you become to your body, nature and the universe. You remove all the 'noise' and everything starts to become clear. Sometimes, we stray a little and if we are aware we get little signs helping bring us back on track.

Basic Uses for Coconut Oil

 
I could write forever about the uses for this amazing oil due its antibacterial, anti-fungal, antiviral, moisturising and detoxing benefits! If you keep these properties in mind, you can use it whenever you need these benefits. Check out my coconut oil post from last week for all the goody treats you get from coconut oil and I will try today to give you a short and practical list of uses to get you started.

Perception is Reality

Have you ever paused for a moment and stepped in another mans shoes? Could you see their point of view?

If you have, then you a probably more emotionally mature than most. This can be a very challenging exercise, to humble yourself, to consider that there may be another way of looking at things, another truth.

Essentially there is only one truth, one reality (unless you believe in the idea of alternate realities :p), this truth or reality however is perceived or interpreted differently depending on your experiences, your attitude, your beliefs. I like to think of it as we are all looking at the world through our own glasses which are shaped by our lives. Each set of glasses unique to the individual. Some people have severely cracked glasses through irresponsible parenting or childhood abuse. Some people have chips in their glasses from hurtful relationships. Some have tints on their glasses from unresolved anger and some have glasses so thick from depression and anxiety their perception of the world is warped. I don't believe anyone has a perfect set of glasses though there are certainly ways to improve the condition of yours.

Celery, Cucumber and Kale Green Smoothie 1

This is my recipe for this morning's green smoothie. Its one of my favourites as it has just the right amount of fruit for where I am at the moment. I am working towards 100% vegetables however it is quite hard to have no sugar after a lifetime of being addicted.

Get Skinny by Eating Fat

As a personal trainer, eating saturated fats has always been a big no no. Saturated fats cause high cholesterol, obesity, heart disease and cancer.
 
Coconut oil however unlike most common vegetable oils contains medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) instead of long chain fatty acids (LCFA). This means being smaller, they are easily digested and burned quickly by the liver for energy. Medium chain fatty acids boost the metabolism and instead of storing fat they use fat for energy.

Orange Kumara Salad

This makes a great side to a leafy salad, vege patties or if you are feeling lazy like I was, add it to your sushi!

Creamy Avo Dressing

This dressing I find works great in a vegetable salad rather than a leafy salad. Its my favourite dressing with my Kumara Salad.

Delaying Gratification for Happiness

So I've realised I have been fighting with time lately. The symptoms came in the form of anger, frustration and resentment. It took a couple of confronting statements from my husband and a great book to help me see that.

We all are faced with challenges throughout our life, and as Buddha so eloquently puts it "life is suffering". Seems a like a depressing quote from such a great man. What Buddha is trying to help us achieve however, is acceptance. We all need to accept the fact, and yes it is fact, that life has its challenges, its suffering - there is no way to avoid it (though most of us do try).