Super Health Foods Change Your Ordinary Food Into Super Health Foods
MAKE YOUR OWN HEALTH SPREAD TO REPLACE MARGARINE
Margarine is bad news. We usually keep it in the fridge because it costs less and is easy to spread. Try this super health spread and you will find it costs less than margarine but it contains a perfect balance of essential fatty acids.
1/4 block of butter : make it really soft
200ml sunflower oil: blend the two together and keep in the fridge as a spread. You can add more or less oil, depending on how hard you want the consistency.
OPTIONS: Try mixing in some grapeseed oil – very rich in anti-oxidants. Flax seed oil is a plant-based omega 3 oil.
MAKE YOUR OWN HEALTH SALT TO REPLACE TABLE SALT AND AROMAT
When you have to cut out salt, it’s the sodium that’s the problem because it causes water retention and it pushes out the potassium that is a natural diuretic. Aromat, Zeal and other seasonings are full of MSG(monosodium glutemate) and are also bad for high blood pressure. So make your own herb salts, to suit your taste. Make a variety of them.
In an electric coffee grinder or use a pestle and mortar:
A few tablespoons of herbs: mixed herbs, basil, mint, rosemary (a good fat busting herb) and others you like.
A tablespoon of spices: coriander, cumin, paprika, ginger. First taste the blend, then add other flavours as you fancy.
A tablespoon of ground pepper, A tablespoon of salt. Two teaspoons of cream of tartar (as a source of potassium)
OPTIONS: Sodium free salt is available: known as potassium chloride. Supermarkets sell: NO SALT or NU-SALT
It tastes like normal salt but beware: if used on popcorn or salty snacks, it can remove the skin from your mouth.
MAKE YOUR OWN SUPER CEREAL
Forget about expensive commercial cereals. Look for MOREVITE at the supermarkets, it sells alongside the mealie meal. It is a pre-cooked sorghum cereal and at a cost of R5 for 1kg, it’s the best way for all blood groups to start the day. It is vitamin enriched and can be served with milk, hot or cold water or even fruit juice. You can top it with yoghurt, molasses, honey. For texture, add oats, chopped nuts and dried fruit or granola. For people who need extra snacks when the blood sugar gets low, you can take a small container of your MOREVITE mix. Keep it dry and activate it with milk, juice or water when you feel the blood sugar blues creeping up on you.
MAKE YOUR OWN HEALTH DRINKS
Fizzy drinks contain about 8 teaspoons of sugar. Talk about a bulge trap! We need alternatives and some fruit juices are just as bad. Too much sugar and no fibre is a no – no. Rather eat the fruit and drink a glass of water!
HERB TEAS: commercial herb teas are a fabulous way to have your eight glasses of water a day. Even soaking the bag in a glass of water overnight for your first drink works well. Then you can add boiling water onto the same bag for the second cup. This is good for expensive teas like Echinacea and St John’s wort as different medicinally active chemical compounds are released in hot and cold infusions. You can also use fresh herbs, especially mint for delicious fragrant teas and sweeten with a spoon of honey or high test molasses. NO WHITE SUGAR!
COLD DRINKS; 1 gram of vitamin C, 1 glass of cold water and a teaspoon of high test molasses. Add a pinch of cream of tartar. This is my favourite drink to take to they gym. You can also experiment with cold herb teas, especially rooibos, honeybush, mint and camomile. Some people add a little chilli to their tea to boost immunity.
MAKE YOUR OWN VEGGIE PIGOUTS
Time is always the excuse for not making stir fries. 90% of the time is in chopping and cutting, so make yourself a variety of pre- chopped veggies in containers in the fridge. Now when you are in a hurry, simply tip a punnet of veggies into a pan with a spoon or two of olive oil. Add a little stock or water as it begins to heat up and turn onto low with a cover. Add your new herb salt and season to your satisfaction. Serve with flaxseed oil and lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. Eat as much as you like, especially the green beans as they are a great slimming food. I like: green pepper, Chinese cabbage, matchstick carrots, slivers of green beans, onions, celery, fennel and a huge bunch of parsley, finely chopped. If you want the mix to be thicker and more slushy, add a few thin slices of sweet potato.
CUNNING WAYS TO FILL YOU UP AT THE DINNER TABLE
A nice substitute for chips is red sweet potato slices, cut thin and fried in a slick of olive oil. Season with herb salt.
Remove from the pan and toss in your stir fry veggies. Add a few thin slivers of fish or chicken. If you have a little greasy treat with a meal it is very satisfying but just a little, on the side. You can also make curried stir-fries, but go easy on the rice if you are on the slimming or detox programme. Also leave out the second poppadum and the extra spoon of dhal. Pig out on extra fresh salad sambals of tomato, onion, green pepper, lettuce, lettuce and lettuce – to fill you up. Eat slowly and that teaspoon of rice will go a long way! Drink mint tea before and after the meal. Never fill up on starch when you are hungry. Rather wait a while or munch carrot and celery sticks in a dip made of yoghurt and flaxseed oil with herb seasoning. When you talk and laugh a lot during a meal, you eat less. You don’t need big comforting desserts. Just think of your waistline!