3 ingredient tropical summer smoothie

 A super easy, super delicious drink, great for summer, or any other time!

Equipment:
- Blender
- Sieve (optional - See note)
- Bowl with spout (optional - See note)

Ingredients:
- 1/2 a ripe Pineapple
- 2 or 3 medium Oranges
- 2 Ice cubes

Method:
1. Prep the pineapple; cut off the skin, cut into 4, & remove the woody core. Prep the Oranges; quarter, peel, & remove any seeds.
2. Throw fruit in the blender & blend on high for 5 seconds (make sure the lid is on tight, this stuff splashes like crazy). Add 1 ice cube, blend for 10 seconds, repeat with 2nd ice cube, slow your blender down, & turn it off.
3. Pour your fabulous drink through the sieve into the bowl, shake it around till all the liquid passes through & only fibers are left.
4. Transfer from the bowl into a large glass, & drink like a king!
(Garnish with a sprig of mint if you wanna get fancy)
NOTE: You can skip step 3 if you don’t mind a slightly chunky/fibrous drink, it’s still good, I just like mine smooth & silky.
It's good to use certified organic produce as much as possible, it always tastes 1000 times better, & it’s cleaner & healthier too ; )

Big broad bean harvest, and a catch up!

It turned out to be a really nice day, I have high hopes for November!
...
I spent last month trialing a new diet, it had some positives affects on me, & I think I learned a thing or two, but it was 90-100% raw, & predominately fruit @_@'
The experience was positive overall, & it's a diet that I think is absolutely plausible, however it was crushing my spirit! Maybe if I had continued for longer I may have adjusted some more, & become completely adapted, but in the end I couldn't turn my back on cooking! Through the experience I absolutely realised that cooking is one of the greatest passions in my life, when it was removed, I felt I had little left, & my motivation for most other things dropped, or disappeared...
Why would I start a diet like that in the first place? It was specifically to improve my digestions & help with my ulcerative colitis, it was not a get skinny quick fad diet or anything like that, health is most important, not being skinny! I was to continue indefinitely, but as mentioned above, I felt as though I was being suffocated, so I took all the knowledge I could, & now have a greater appreciation of food : )
If you feel a raw food diet might help your health, you can find more information here >>> colitis-crohns.com.
...
That's the catch up, & hopefully gives you the gist of why I was so very quiet last month...
Now I feel good to truck on, & get busy again, starting with an awesome harvest of broad beans from our garden, which ended as a damn amazing fresh bean stew with oregano (also fresh from the garden)
...

...

...

...

 If you ever have too many fresh herbs, dry them!

Place them on a rack in a warm dry place, & store when dry. 

...

...

...
Harvesting veggies from your own backyard is insanely satisfying, & as always I encourage everyone to have a try of growing some organic fruit & veg for yourself.
Much more to come this month I hope! I'm really keen to get some recipes written up, maybe the broad bean stew if anyone is interested? I feel like I have a lot to catch up on...
...
Take it easy everyone, appreciate what you have, & be happy!

Food combining charts VEG and FRUIT

I have made these for my own reference, based on the information provided in 'Digestion perfection' by Dr. David Klein (e-book available HERE).
Feel free to reference them to learn the basics of good food combining : )
...
Vegetable chart -
...

...
Fruit chart -
...

...
If you would like more information about food combining, & natural hygiene please visit www.colitis-crohns.com.

Massive diet reform - Natural hygiene.

This all started with yet another flare-up of ulcerative colitis, at which point I conceded that something was still not right with my vegan diet.
I started searching online, & soon came across colitis-crohns.com, run by Dr. David Klein. He practices what is known as 'Natural hygiene', which is quite simply; eating the correct foods in compatible combinations to best suit the human digestive system.
The basic premise is simple, & it's all very easy to learn, in fact, I would say once learned, it greatly simplifies, & improves day to day life :)
...
Some basics of Natural Hygiene -
1. Eating suitable foods alone, or in correct combinations is the optimal way to eat.
2. The ideal food for humans is fruit! Small amounts of non-starchy vegetables, a small amount of oil foods (avocado, & some nuts), suitable protein & carbohydrate foods, combined correctly is what we need to be healthy.
3. Raw, whole foods are the best!
4. Mono-meals (eating one food per meal/snack) provides the best situation for digestion, & efficient nutrient absorption.
5. Avoid drinking soon before, during, or soon after eating as this dilutes the digestive enzymes in the stomach, & impairs digestion.
6. Regular sleep is crucial. Adults should get no less than 7 hours every night.
7. Never over eat! Also avoid eating when; overly emotional, fatigued, or when you have a fever. During this time your body wants to fix the problem, & the digestive system shuts down.
8. Only eat when genuinely hungry, a dip in mental, & physical energies is a good indication that it's time to eat. Be careful not to mistake fatigue (which requires rest/sleep, not food) or appetite ie. the urge to eat (for no reason) with hunger!
9. Always chew food thoroughly.
10. Keep it simple! This can be applied to all aspects of life, & is equally important when considering diet, large, complicated, extravagant meals are not better! 
...
Not recommended for human consumption -
1. All animal products, including; meat, dairy, seafood, eggs, & honey.
2. Grains, & grain products, including; rice, wheat, flour, bread, pasta, etc.
3. Legumes/Pulses, including; beans (except fresh green beans), lentils, chickpeas, soybeans, peanuts (peanuts are not a nut, they are a legume), etc.
4. Alliums, including; onions, garlic, leeks, chives, etc.
5. Spinach, silver beet, beet greens, & rhubarb. These contain extremely high amounts of oxalic acid, & are not processed well by our digestive system.
6. All oils & fats, including; olive oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, etc.
7. All sugars & syrups, including; brown sugar, raw sugar, white sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup, agave syrup, etc.
...
Support your body's natural alkaline state!
No more that 20% of your diet overall should be acid-forming foods, these are foods which, when metabolised form a harmful acid, which your body must then work to neutralise, this process requires alkaline minerals such as calcium, & iron, which is sourced from your bones, etc.
-
Acid-forming foods (Avoid)
*All dairy products, except butter, which is neutral.
*All animal products, except blood & bone.
*All grains & grain products, except millet, which is slightly base-forming.
-
Alkaline-forming foods (Eat)
*All vegetables, except asparagus, which is minimally acid-forming.
*All fruits, except blueberries, olives, & some nuts.
*Some nuts, including; almonds, chestnuts, coconuts, etc.
*All sprouts.
...
This is a basic summary of what I have learned so far.
I am very new to this way of eating, but so far I have experienced positive results, & yes my flare-up is subsiding. Presently I cannot say for sure if this is the ultimate answer to being healthy, however I am optimistic! :)
As I am reading 'Digestion Perfection' (e-book available HERE), I realised that people on a mostly raw, mostly fruit based diet, seem to have the right idea, however if correct food combining is not applied, then the diet may fail.
...
If you too have trouble with IBD, Ulcerative colitus, or if you want to learn more about natural hygiene, visit - colitis-crohns.com.
You may be able to find certain books cheaper by using book-o ;)

Birthday pics for my sister :)

I couldn't post these drawings until after I'd given them to my sister. I made them for her 25th birthday, & they were very well received.

You may have guessed, she loves tigers, rainbows, & Adventure Time.

Peanut satay dip/spread recipe

This stuff is easy to make a super versatile. It's great to use as a sauce in wraps, or a spread on toast or crackers, or most simply as a dip :)

- Peanut satay dip recipe -

Ingredients:
- 4 heaped TBS fresh Peanut butter
- 1/4 cup Coconut milk
- 2 TBS Tamari
- 2 tsp Agave Nectar (or  other sweetener of choice)
- 1/4-1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
- 1/4 Small Purple Onion - Very finely diced
- 1/2 a small clove of Garlic - Minced 
- Water - As needed
- Sliced fresh veggies - To Serve

Method:
1. Combine all ingredients (except water) into a small dish or bowl, & mix until well combined.
2. Check the the flavor, & adjust to taste (more Tamari for saltiness, etc) Add small amounts of water until desired consistency is reached.
DONE!

Eat it however you like :)
Enjoy~

R E A L L Y looking forward to Minecraft 1.7

I've been testing out the latest snapshot, & it's loads of fun! Some of the additions include; several unique new biomes, lots of new flowers, giant mushrooms are back, considerably larger mountains (with snow on top), more floating islands, etc, etc, etc.
...
I'm really looking forward to playing more once the official release it out :D
Till then, have some screenshots! - 
...

...

...

 ...

 ...

...

The last pic is a new kind of dessert I think. They tend to be enormous, & often join onto sandy deserts, & yeah, they're made entirely of baked clay blocks! I affectionately call this biome, the redlands :)

...

If you want to try out the snapshot for yourself;

Open the Minecraft launcher, select 'new profile', name the new profile something like 'snapshot', then click 'Enable experimental development versions ("snapshots")', click 'yes' in the following prompt window, then save the profile.

Make sure the new profile you made is selected, then click 'Play'.

Short film: The [Vegan] scarecrow

This is a great short animated film that depicts some of the horrible truths within animal industries. Please choose a compassionate lifestyle, & avoid all animal products, & we can end these cruel practices!
For the People. For the animals. For the planet. Please go vegan <3
...

What time is it?...

Adventure time! :D

'Loyal guardians'

'Jacked up'

Pics were drawn using Illustrator & Photoshop.

Hope you all like them!

More from around our garden...

...

...

...

 Broad beans, Daikon, Mustard greens, Kale, etc.

...

All you gotta do is plant seeds ;)

So much spring...

The weather is warm, animals are going nuts, & there are flowers EVERYWHERE.
I love spring!
...
(semi)Wild blossoms -
...

...

...

...

...

Our garden -

...

...

I'm particulary happy out this one because the seed was a bit old.

It's our lovely new watermelon seedling (◕ヮ◕)

...

Our garden beds are doing well, & the plants are all growing like crazy now that spring has arrived. I will get some more shots from around our garden as things develop : )

A pair of pika pics

 'I can feel it'

'It's over.'

Made using Photoshop.

Is everyone excited for the new pokemon game? Not much longer!

Bee & Puppycat awesomeness

Drawing like crazy at the moment -

'Oh, hello!'

Has everyone seen Bee & Puppycat?

It's a cool new cartoon made by Natasha Allegri.

Check it -

OC's Finn + Em -sketches-

I've been drawing flat out for the past few days, I hope I can keep it up!

 

'Misunderstanding'

'All grown up'

Quickest Curry -recipe-

We love curry, big time! We eat some kind of curry every week, sometimes all week, we just love it that much!
This is the quickest way (so far) that I have found to make a delicious, simple curry.

-Quickest curry recipe-

Ingredients:
- 1 tsp Coconut oil (optional) 
- 3 TBS Mild Curry Powder
- 1 can Organic Coconut cream
- 1/3 can Water (Use the can from the coconut cream ;) 
- 1/2 a Chicken Style Stock Cube (Massel all the way!)
- Mirin (approx 6 TBS)
- 1 large Purple Onion - Finely Diced
- 1-2 cloves of Garlic - Minced
- 2 medium Carrots - Rinsed, cut lengthways, & sliced.
- 2 medium Potatoes - Rinsed, & cut into bite-sized slice.
- 1/4 of a small Jap Pumpkin (approx 1 cup when diced) - Peeled, & cut into bite-sized cubes.
- 1 cup of Green Peas (frozen or fresh)
- Fresh Steamed Rice - To serve
- Fresh Coriander - To Serve

Method:
1. Prep all ingredients, the onion, carrots, & potato can be thrown directly into the skillet. (You'll need a medium skillet with a lid ;)
2. Add the oil, stock, curry powder, & a splash of mirin to the skillet, with the onion, potato, & carrots, & cook on a medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add small splashes of water if needed (Don't worry if stuff sticks to the bottom, it will come off later, but if it's burning, lower the heat a little, & stir more)
3. Add another splash of mirin, then the garlic, cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously. Next, add the coconut cream, water, & pumpkin, cover & simmer for 10 minutes, or until the pumpkin is cooked.
4. Finally, add the peas & cook uncovered for 5 minutes. That's it!

Curries don't come much quicker (or more delicious) than this one.
Serve with fresh steamed rice, & fresh coriander! Serves 3-4 :)

I recommend using the best quality curry powder you can find, Indian grocery stores, or health food shops are usually the best bet.
As always, check, & double-check your ingredients to make sure they are suitable for you. Enjoy! :)