My top 15

My main picture for today's blog post is of the National Library in Prague, gorgeous isn't it? I put it up because today, on my friends facebook page he wrote a note called "15 books that stayed with me." I'm sure you can tell from the title what the subject of the note was. Inspired by this, as well as his list, I decided to also make a list of the top 15 books that have stayed with me up to now.

The top 15 books that I have read, which have stayed with me so far:

The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
Fifth Business - Robertson Davies
In the Skin of Lion - Michael Ondaatje
The Twilight Series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn) - Stephenie Meyer *Seriously, they are very good books don't knock it till you try it!
Naomi's Road - Joy Kogawa
The Alchemist - Paolo Coehlo
The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger
Black Water - Joyce Carol Oates
Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
Beloved - Toni Morrison
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Summer Sisters - Judy Blume
The Bible *Regardless of my own religious faith (which will remain a private matter) this book is filled with sex, violence, love, faith, philosophy, and some great stories
The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

So, there you have it! Those are 15 books, which I can recall, that have stayed with me. I am sure there are more, actually I have no doubt about it and I could probably add more to that list right now. However, its a start. In my list, I didn't include John Grisham, who might actually be my most favorite writer as well as Jeffrey Deaver, who writes a lot of my favorites. That being said, I also didn't include a lot of the thrillers I read, murder mysteries, books filled with short stories, old childhood favorites (Angelina Ballerina) etc. I think that reading is definitely one of my favorite past times, I love just becoming totally involved with a book and letting my imagination take over. Its a great way to escape reality; sometimes my imagination can be more vivid than any movie or tv screen. I remember when I first read Twilight, I finished all 4 books in 4 days. I basically holed up in my house and couldn't put down the book, I would be reading until 4am those nights! In highschool, when I got the summer reading list, I was actually excited to go to the library and get the books with my mom. I would always take them up to the cottage and just read on the dock all summer. This carried on to my years in university. One of my majors was philosophy and I really enjoyed the weekly readings. Having to read books by different philosophers, especially concerning theology and metaphysics, was so interesting. Reading can really open one's mind to so many things as well as change how you perceive the world around you. The other day I picked up two books from the bookstore because there was a huge sale! I got "The Passage" by Justin Cronin, which the sales lady gushed over and proclaimed was the "best book of the year!" She said she was excited for me to read it and made me promise to tell her what I thought. The other book I got was actually 3 books in one by Paolo Coehlo, which includes "By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept", "Veronika Decides to Die", and "the Devil and Miss Prym." I have always been hot and cold with Coehlo. I really enjoyed "The Alchemist" however I found "The Witch of Portobello" to be boring and not really for me. However, I have always wanted to read "Veronika Decides to Die" so this way I can give Coehlo another chance as well as get a book I actually would like to read from him. I kind of think of him as a contemporary philosopher sometimes, his books are so much about what goes on in your heart and your mind during your journey through life. He's an interesting author to say the least.

Last night I saw the movie "Wall Street" in preparation for the sequel, which is out in theaters right now. The movie was great! Seeing Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen as young actors was kind of nice and Oliver Stone has always been a fabulous director. I can't wait to see the second one. We tried to start "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" but we didn't realize it was subtitled and I wasn't really in the mood to follow along last night, out of sheer dead-tiredness. To be honest, I kind of want to read the books first anyways! Tonight I am going to introduce my guy to The Godfather, one of my favorite movies and trilogies. He hasn't seen it yet, which was a huge shock to me as I grew up with a father who loves the Godfather and sometimes I felt like it was on the tv every night of my childhood. So, we'll start Part 1 this evening.

In other news, I checked out the gym today and I did a medium/hard workout, which I was proud of because I made it through with out any problems. I can't wait to start Bikram again on Monday and see how it goes. This weekend I think we are finally getting that car and I'm sure I'll have loads of fantastic updates (nutrition related too of course, I didn't abandon the whole purpose of this blog totally for books and movies!). Today I am also going to try my first ever green smoothie so I will let you know how that goes. Till then, I'm off to start another book of course! xJ

Peppermint tea!

After watching an incredible episode of Glee today I was immediately in a good mood. Glee parodied Britney Spears this week and ended off with a song I really love by Paramore (although they should have ended the episode with more Britney). Today is kind of a particularly gloomy day outside, its raining (what else is new) and its kind of chilly. I started on my yoga course and its a lot of material, lots of information to take in! So, I decided to take a break to blog.

Everyday I start my morning off with hot water with lemon (something that I read about while reading Dr. Joshi's Holistic detox ) and then I move on to peppermint tea. Since getting sick, I've been banned from caffeine because it makes my skin burn and I also wasn't supposed to take it with the medicine. I was also told by the doctors that caffeine works against your immune system, which I am trying to build up. I used to be a huge coffee addict save for one new years resolution back in 2006 where I stopped drinking the stuff for 6 months! But as of late, I was hitting the java up to 4 times a day. For the last month, I have been coffee and caffeine free. I won't lie and say that I haven't missed it or that every time I walk by a cafe or Starbucks I don't get a whiff of the good stuff and wish I could down a tall soy latte, but its felt good to be able to get off it and stay off it. A friend of mine constantly proclaims that coffee is the only legal drug out there. He is right. Coffee and caffeine are stimulants and highly addictive. Caffeine works by initiating the uncontrolled firing of neurons in your brain, which in turn triggers your pituitary gland to secrete a hormone that tells your adrenal glands to produce adrenalin. Adrenalin is your body's natural high, however, when it is triggered unnaturally, the body reacts and balances itself out by also providing you with a lovely crash once the adrenalin has worn off. You in turn become more fatigued, irritable, sometimes you get a raging headache, and a fog clouds your conscious mind. At this point, you probably want another cuppa joe, right? and so the cycle begins again. Think about what kind of state this is putting your body in to. First of all you are in a constantly caffeinated state of being, always needing more and in turn, always on edge. For those highly addicted, this caffeinated state results in increased fatigue, mood swings, depression, insomnia, irritability, and even high stress. Eventually, your body will also go in to adrenal exhaustion, or even depletion. After years of needing more and more coffee to get your adrenaline high, you will see the detrimental effects that consuming so much caffeine has on your system. Caffeine is like any other drug and there will be withdrawal symptoms once you stop pounding back the lattes. Cutting back is hard, believe me, I'm on that path right now, but my savior? Peppermint tea. It is the most soothing and great tasting tea I have found. I even got my guy to love it and he never drank tea before. As well, peppermint contains menthol, which is not only extremely refreshing but also has healing qualities. Peppermint also has vitamin B, calcium, and potassium, all extremely important things to reduce stress, help your heart, and strengthen your bones. Peppermint aids digestion, stomach cramps, any and all GI problems (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, IBS, gas, indigestion), headaches, colic in babies, gall stones, it also helps your concentration and works to calm your nervous system so that you can focus. Breastfeeding mothers are also urged to drink peppermint tea while breastfeeding so that the health benefits may pass on to the baby through the mother's milk. Also, it helps your breath stay minty and fresh. Another plus? Peppermint is naturally caffeine free. The tea itself tastes great on its own but I like to drink it with some honey; its a great treat to wake up to in the morning. I suggest for those of you who rely on a morning coffee to get you going that you try peppermint tea, or any other kind of caffeine free herbal tea, and see how it goes. I'm off to study some more but I'll be back later today to blog about some nutritious and delicious foods as well as a crazy movie I just saw! xJ

Les Mills, Crossfit, and I miss Running!

Yesterday was a crazy day! Also, very tiring. It was my first day back at the gym since getting sick. Full of excitement and very eager to get my sweat on I made a bee line to the closest gym to us in the morning, Les Mills. Without becoming a total spokesperson for the club, it was AMAZING! Seriously. First of all it is HUGE, there are FOUR cardio areas, 3 fitness studios (for classes), 3 ab/stretch areas, 3 weight rooms, and then there is a huge studio, that includes one of the cardio areas, which has enough room and hooks on the ceiling for 24 boxing bags!!!! It was insanity. The machines are also all brand new from Life Fitness (which is slowly taking over the world) and there were tons of windows, the place was great. First thing was first, I hit the treadmill. After about 15 minutes I started to feel really not good, my head was pounding, my skin was burning, and so I had to step off and cool myself down. I got on to the Cybex cross trainer (one of my favorites) and I stayed on that for 30 minutes, taking it easy, and it felt good. I guess I am not ready for the treadmill yet but I am hoping in the next couple of weeks I will be. Running is my most favorite thing, for stress relief, weight loss, fat loss, toning, the works! Running also really improves cardiovascular fitness aka your heart. It's also something that gives me a huge sense of accomplishment. After I finish an hour run, I feel amazing about myself and my body. I highly recommend running to anyone, no matter what fitness level. Start slow and work your way up, you will see a huge difference very quickly! I finished off my workout with some abs, lower back work, and light stretching. I didn't want to over do it on my first day, something I tend to usually do but these days I am learning to be smarter as I get older and less careless about my body.

Another thing I loved about Les Mills was the incredible class schedule. Less Mills has classes pretty much every hour. This is something I always hated about most gyms I've been to around the world (and I've been to alot!). Usually, the classes are either in the morning or at night and no in between. Les Mills offers round the clock, kick ass classes, including yoga, which was a sweet surprise. One of their classes was even tailor made at the University of Auckland for ultimate fat loss. Its called BODYPUMP and I'm definitely going to try it tomorrow. If you live in New Zealand or the Auckland area you should definitely check out Les Mills at www.lesmills.co.nz the gym is really high energy, always filled with motivated people and is not intimidating. There is even a womens only area including lots of cardio machines and weights, in case you feel uncomfortable in front of the grunting, sweaty, men. Another plus? The change room is super clean and has a steam room, sauna, and whirlpool. I feel like I know where I'll be spending most of my days from now on! Haha! I am just glad they have yoga everyday as well as the Body Balance class, which is a combination of yoga, pilates, and tai chi. I am so eager to try every single class!

While I was on the treadmill yesterday I was watching one man do what I thought was a crossfit workout; I checked the website,watched what he was doing, and figured out he was indeed doing the crossfit workout of the day! Crossfit is a great way to get in shape and its incredible for strength and conditioning. I used to be a skeptic about crossfit because the exercises aren't really too diverse and a lot of the stuff is repetitive; I am a fan of switching up workouts and not doing the same thing all the time, especially for my clients. However, crossfit does get you great results very fast and it focuses on both upper and lower body as well as your core. Crossfit also uses Kettlebells, which burn A LOT of calories very quickly, and provide a really great dynamic workout. Another benefit of the crossfit workout is how quick you can do a kick ass program. Those who are strapped for time can be in and out of the gym in under an hour. Some crossfit workouts can be as little as 25 minutes in length. Don't let the short time fool you though, you will be sweating and your heart will be racing very quickly. One of my really good friends swears by crossfit and his results are great; he's gained a lot of muscle and trimmed down his midsection quite a bit. Crossfit is for both men and women and there are even competitions, which are fun and challenging. Most cities have a crossfit gym with everything you need for the daily workouts and I hear its quite social as well. You can read more about crossfit and check out their daily workouts (free!!) at www.crossfit.com

Today I think I will try to go easier at the gym, so as to avoid the raging headache and burning skin. I will definitely be talking about the classes I try tomorrow as well as my new diet, which I have changed quite a bit since I will be working out again.

Last night I picked up some Snapper from the market. I let the fish marinade for a few hours in the fridge in olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika. Before grilling I cut up some yellow onions as well as halved some strawberry tomatoes (my new favorite) and added them on top of the fish. It turned out really well, the paprika was a great addition. I really love making fish because its so fast and easy. You can grill it at 180 for 10 minutes and its perfect. My guy never really ate fish before he met me, he was more of a steak and chicken kinda guy, so this is all new to him. He loved it, which was great news for me because I would rather cook fish than chicken or steak. Since we live in a place now where seafood is super fresh and not shipped in from somewhere, this is also a plus. Tonight I'm going to be dining alone and so I've decided to make a big salad, including beets! I will be blogging about that later today. For now, I am off to the gym to battle the crosstrainer yet again and to make love eyes at the treadmill, I miss it :( xJ

Tally Ho!

This weekend was one of the best weekends I have had in Auckland...and I did absolutely nothing. Sunday was the greatest. We decided to stay in and I tried my hand at baking some gluten free, dairy free, vegan muffins. My guy was a little skeptical at first, what with my declarations of "no eggs or milk are needed!" he even got himself a greasy french croissant from the french creperie as a back up plan while out getting me some hot chocolate, just in case the muffins turned out to, as he said, "taste gluten-free." What does that even mean? Gluten-free food gets a bad rap. It can actually be quite good and even if you dont have a celiac disease or a gluten/wheat intolerance, you should try to limit the amount of gluten in your diet. Don't believe me? Cut out gluten from your diet for one month and see how you feel. After one month, re-introduce gluten in to your diet, even just by having a beer, and take note of the effects gluten has on your body. To read about the negative effects gluten has on the human body and why you should re-consider its presence in your life please take a look at this article:

http://home.earthlink.net/~loveguru/grainbad.htm

Also, feel free to do some of your own research as well as experiment with a gluten-free diet for a couple of weeks. Everyone's body is different, but in terms of gluten, I would highly recommend cutting back. That being said, although my guy doesn't have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance (that he is aware of at least) I am trying to help him down the road to a gluten free lifestyle, if only because it also makes my life easier since we live together and share a kitchen. Since moving in with each other I make soups with gluten free noodles, I buy gluten free bread, and I make gluten free muffins. The other day while we were eating some delish chicken noodle soup, he had no idea the noodles were even gluten free and absolutely loved them! They were a blend of corn and rice, which have a really great taste and perfect texture. The muffins turned out to be equally as yummy! As you can see from the photos, documentation proves delicious and nutritious!



The muffins are Vegan Morning Glory muffins and I used a recipe I found online, but I tweaked it a little bit; I gave it some Jax power! I find there are a lot of recipes online, especially for muffins, but they are not necessarily so great. You really have to experiment in the kitchen to find out what your taste buds will appreciate. After this batch of muffins I tried to make a chocolate banana vegan muffin and it was SO bad, we had to throw them all out :(




So, practice makes perfect! For dinner, we were going to make polenta pizza but I was so tired from baking so many muffins that we decided to go easier and make a big salad. My guy, being as sweet as he is, also decided to make Kumara fries. They were AMAZING. As you can see in the photo, Kumara is another word for sweet potato fries. His recipe is so easy to follow too! Anyone can do it :) These were perfect and crispy and went great with the salad!



My man's Kumara fries...

What you need:

3 large Kumaras (sweet potatoes)
4 TBS olive oil/sunflower oil (TIP!: sunflower oil has a higher cooking point than olive oil, so to avoid nasty carcinogens I recommend using either sunflower, coconut, canola, or sesame oil for cooking)
2 tsp cinammon (to bring out the flavor)
as much salt and pepper as you like (I love using Himalayan salt, it gives the best flavor to all foods and is the best salt for you!)
1 tsp paprika

Wash and peel the kumaras. Slice from the top to make "fries." Put these pieces in to a ziplock bag or large bowl. Toss with oil, salt, pepper paprika, and cinnamon.

Bake these at 220C/425F for about 20 mins. Flip at 10 mins. Grill another 5-10 minutes to make them crispy on the top! This will give them blackened edges and make it soooo good! Everyone's oven is different so cooking times and temperatures may vary, it also depends on the vegetable itself.

I will be talking about my muffin recipe(s) very soon! Until then here is the original link I used to make the muffins, but like I said, I changed some things and I added some things and etc. etc.

http://thejuma.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/vegan-morning-glory-muffins/

Overall, its a great recipe!

This weekend I also got to FINALLY see (its been a long time coming) the movie Slumdog Millionaire. It was SO great and I really loved the music, the story, the characters, and the dancing! I really don't know very much about Indian culture or how life is in the cities of India like Bombay or Mumbai. That being said, I would love to learn more and I was really interested in the parts of the movie that showed how people really live there. The movie was bittersweet and so it was also really sad in some parts. It's true that all over the world, people are struggling every day and doing anything they can to just simply survive. It really makes you think a lot about what is truly important in your life, what you can and can't live without, and what you take for granted.
I am off to grill some fish! I got snapper from the market and I am trying a simple recipe. Also, learning about the importance of Beetroot in ones diet! Its VERY exciting and I will tell you all about it very soon :) xJ

TGIF!

Today is Friday and boy am I happy about that! We had planned to maybe-possibly take a trip to Lake of Bays this weekend, which is apparently beautiful, however, life gets in the way and we REALLY need to go car shopping. I hate car shopping, most people like it, I hate it. I think its boring. I am definitely not a "car person." I would much rather be doing yoga, maybe taking walk on the beach, or going to the Lake of Bays ;) but, I also hate lugging bags of groceries up the steepest-hill-I-have-ever-seen. That being said, car shopping it is! I am also going to drag the boy to the farmers market on Sunday for some yummy brunch, hot chocolate, and to pick up some great, fresh produce.

Yesterday I had some really great news from my doctor, who said that I can start working out again!!! She said I have to go slow and take it easy but that I could definitely hit the gym and even do some low impact yoga (not Bikram, but yoga nonetheless!) I just have to be careful. Since the amazing news, we decided that Saturday will be the day that not only do we go car shopping but also the day we join the gym! I am so excited because the gym we chose has great classes all day long including a running club each morning. Its the beginning of a new life! I am very happy. I will definitely be documenting my uphill climb to getting back in shape as well as what foods I will be eating pre and post workout and yoga as well as throughout the day.

Last night I cooked a delicious and simple meal. We settled on marinaded baked tofu with brown rice and broccoli (and some hummus on the side). It was the first time the boy has ever tried tofu and he seemed to like it, but also asked if I could make it taste like chicken. We had some pretty terrible tofu when we first got here from a really bad Japanese place (That was supposed to be "the best in Auckland" ha yeah right) and so he was surprised the tofu wasn't so terrible. As for the chicken request, I said "of course I can!" and while doing so my mind wandered to Whole Foods infamous Vegan Curry Chicken, a staple in my life for the last few months before leaving Toronto. My mind also wandered to figuring out how to re-create this culinary classic, it is DELISH! I am going to scour the WF website and try to find out how I can do this without being a super-chef or Martha Stewart. Tonight, the boy gets real chicken and since he's obsessed with my simple rosemary recipe lately and since its so easy for me, he's gonna get it again tonight. Highlight of the evening? The amazing (kinda expensive) bottle of red wine I got from Glen Garry. I haven't been able to drink for the last month and now I can finally have a glass. I still have to be careful but I am so excited, I almost forget what red wine tastes like! I am also going to be making some quinoa (which is pre-soaking as I type), salad, steam some veggies, and I'll probably throw some of yesterdays left over brown rice in to the mix (waste not want not kiddies). Lately we've been eating really simple vegan dishes, since I have been feeling too crappy to do any real cooking but both of us feel the best we have in a LONG time! So, for that I am happy.

In other news, I have just signed up for a new course to add to my insane list of certifications, degrees, diplomas, etc. I will be taking "Yoga for Athletes" for the next few months and hopefully it will help me not only in my own practice but also when I am able to start teaching classes again! I am very excited.

Tomorrow I will also be baking my own vegan super healthy muffins! The recipe and pics to follow! xJ

The Lovely Quinoa

Yesterday was really cold and REALLY rainy and REALLY cold...did I say it was cold? Well it was. So cold in fact, I had both heaters on PLUS I had to turn on the elements on the stove to heat up the place. It was freezing! I wasn't feeling too well, thanks to my stupid decision to go for a nice stroll at 8pm the night before in the freezing cold, with not enough clothes on and wet hair. Not the brightest idea I've ever had. Because I wasn't feeling so hot I decided to take the day and catch up on all the tv shows I have missed since being over here in NZ (it was a total lazy day). It was actually quite relaxing and since it was too cold to even leave my electric blanket anyways, it was quite fitting that I stay inside and make use of the old megavideo account. Because it was so cold, I really wanted to eat something warm and comforting for dinner, but since I was feeling pretty bad, I didn't want to have to put too much effort in to cooking. The boy and I settled on quinoa and vegetables, with a twist! I decided to make quinoa with chickpeas (uber protein dins!) with some home marinated (with my special dressing) vegetables. I put the whole thing over some rocket salad (arugula salad for any North Americans out there) and it was delish. I'm really starting to like quinoa and even the smell of it while cooking is so good! This is also such a simple recipe:

1 cup quinoa (pre-soaked 4-6 hours)
2 cups water
1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
2 cups chickpeas (or one whole can drained and rinsed)
1 bunch carrots peeled and cut
4 celery stalks washed and cut
1/2 cucumber peeled cut
10 cherry/grape/strawberry tomatoes washed and halved
1/2 red onion cut up in tiny pieces
2 red peppers washed cut
3 handfuls rocket salad (or any type of green you want!)
Handful mixed pre-soaked nuts (pumpkin, sunflower, pecan, cashew, almond, etc. whatever you want)

Homemade Balsamic:

extra virgin cold pressed Olive oil
balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp paprika
2 tablespoons oregano (I use a lot, its all about how much you like the taste)
4 garlic buds

Veggies:
I made the homemade sauce (which, lets be honest, changes every time) and mixed it all up in a separate bowl. Then, I cut up all my veggies and threw them in to a big glass bowl. I let the sauce sit for about an hour in the separate dish so that the garlic could really get in to the olive oil. I find if you let it sit, the flavor amplifies a lot. Usually 4 hours is best, but if you are short on time, work with what you've got! After this sat for a bit, I put all the sauce all over the veggies and mixed it all up with two big spoons! I let the veggies sit in the sauce while I cooked the quinoa and chickpeas

Quinoa and chickpeas:
First, I pre-soaked the quinoa as per my last post, to make sure I get the full benefit of the enzymes and less of the toxins and acid. I find pre-soaking the quinoa also gives it a fluffier texture while cooking, it cooks faster, and it tastes better (seriously, it does). While I was cooking the quinoa I opened up a can of organic chickpeas, which I drained and then rinsed (this is important, check out what happens when you rinse them, bubbles = not normal). After the quinoa was pretty much ready I threw in the chickpeas and cooked some more to make sure they were warmed and some of the flavor seeped in.

I got two big plates, put a handful of rocket salad on each plate and then I put the quinoa chickpea mix on top, and covered it with the veggies. I topped it off with some (also pre-soaked) pumpkin, sunflower, and pecan nuts crumbled up. You can also mix that up; sometimes I use almonds or whatever is available. Voila! This meal is a really quick, hearty, super duper nutritious and a delicious dinner. The boys loves it, its slowly becoming his favorite and I love it too :)

Tonight I am not sure what I will make. It's super cold again and I'm in the mood for some brown rice so I'll have to rack my brain. I have a late appointment today too so when I get home I know I'll be hungry for something fast!

Last night, we watched the movie "The Lovely Bones," which I was dying to see because I really loved the book and I also really like Peter Jackson, the director. He also directed Lord of the Rings, which I LOVED! I really hope that soon we can go on the Lord of the Rings tour here in NZ so I can see the sights. The Lovely Bones is a murder mystery/thriller and it was beautiful. Peter Jackson's depiction of Purgatory was amazing and reminded me of a psychedelic dream. The movie was scary in some parts and I found I got really involved with both the characters and the story line. I'm not sure who the actress was who played the young girl who was the main character, Susan Salmon, but she was also great. I loved her voice. Weird, I know, but I totally did! I also finally saw the season finale of True Blood, which was kind of a fail. There are always so many un-answered questions and it reminds me of the show "Lost" a little bit, one of my ultimate favorite shows, but also a huge mystery to me. Ah well, I guess we'll have to wait till next season! I am off for now :) xJ

Soakin your stuff!

The other day, after a couple days of eating my overnight oats, I started to notice my stomach getting upset. I decided to do some research (along with the help of my mom) and I found out about the importance of soaking your oats before you eat them. For the last few years I started soaking my brown rice as well as garbanzo beans (chickpeas) before I cooked a delicious meal, however, never had I thought about oats. I found a few links with information and this excerpt (which sums up the purpose of soaking oats nicely) is from: http://bit.ly/11v5d3

"All grains contain phytic acid (an organic acid in which phosphorous is bound) in the outer layer or bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron especially zinc in the intestinal track and block their absorption. This is why a diet high in unfermented whole grains may led to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss. The modern misguided practice of consuming large amounts of unprocessed bran often improves colon transit time at first but may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and, in the long term, many other adverse effects. Soaking allows enzyme, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize phytic acid. As little as seven hours of soaking in warm acidulated water will neutralize a large portion of phytic acid in grains. The simple practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight will vastly improve their nutritional benefits."

Another few links about soaking oats:

http://www.alive.com/1677a5a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=491

and this link explains HOW to soak your oats as well as what you need to soak them!

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/09/soaked-oatmeal-breakfast.html

I will definitely soak my oats today and find out how they taste tomorrow. While doing research about soaking your oats I also found some literature about soaking nuts. This is something that I have known for a long time since reading one of my favorite books called "eating for beauty" by David Wolfe (a great author and believer in the raw food movement). Soaking nuts or seeds that you consume is very important in order to receive ALL the nutritional value as well as the most benefits from them. Here are some link about nuts and seeds and for anyone who loves to eat these things, I really recommend checking them out!

http://eatingforenergy.ca/blog/73/do-you-soak-your-nuts/

for soak times for different nuts and seeds check this out:

http://www.raw-food-living.com/soaking-nuts.html

Today I will be soaking some pumpkin and sunflower seeds for our dinner tonight! I want to mix them with some brown rice and make a salad for a very Fresh-like bowl.
Last nights chicken was a success and I also got to make Israeli Couscous for the first time in my life! The boy ate everything and was totally full after, but it was super good for him...health food!! I made sure to take pictures and I will include my couscous recipe (it got raves reviews) in the next post.
Last night I watched the movie Australia directed by Baz, the same guy who did Moulin Rouge and Romeo and Juliet. He is great with colours and scenery. The movie was with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman (Hello!!) and was all romance and adventure as well as some magic. The scenery in Australia was so beautiful, I'm so lucky to be living so close to such a place and I can't wait to check it out (first I gotta conquer NZ though!). It was definitely a feel good movie. Next up, The Lovely Bones. I love seeing movies of books I enjoyed because I get to see how another person interpreted everything in their mind. But, for now, its time for some breakfast (a fruit salad) and some amazing tea (peppermint yum!) I hope today will stay as sunny as it is right now! xJ