Either I conquer Istanbul or Istanbul conquers me

My daily morning routine in Yeniköy: coffee, writing, sunshine.

Coconut water and sun

The sun has finally made it to France and so I got myself a stash of coconut water for hydration. Loaded with vital nutrients, coconut water is a very good source of B-complex vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pyridoxine, and folates. It is rich in amino acids, enzymes, dietary fiber, vitamin C and minerals such as potassium, magnesium and manganese .It is also very beneficial as it has anti viral and anti bacterial properties. And it’s so delicious!

Le soleil est enfin arrivé France et donc j’ai acheté ma réserve d’eau de noix de coco pour l’hydratation. Chargé avec des nutriments essentiels, l’eau de coco est une très bonne source de vitamines du complexe B comme la riboflavine, la niacine, la thiamine, pyridoxine, et folates. Elle est riche en acides aminés, enzymes, fibres alimentaires, vitamine C et de minéraux tels que le potassium, le magnésium et le manganèse. Elle est également très bénéfique car elle a des propriétés anti-virales et anti bactériennes. Et c’est tellement délicieux!

I was inspired by a weekend in the countryside earlier this year and recreated something I had tried: cherries soaked in eau de vie.

J’ai été inspirée par un week-end à la campagne il y a quelques mois et j’ai voulu recréé quelque chose que j’avais essayé: cerises trempées dans l’eau de vie. MIAM!

Happy weekend!
Bon weekend!

xoxox

A weekend of special breakfasts

I love a good breakfast, eaten in peace on my couch while Paris slowly wakes up. Here is what I ate last weekend…

Yogi tea green tea. Their words of wisdom always put me back on track for the day.

Fresh figs, banana, chia seeds, yoghurt and agave syrup.

fresh blueberries, raspberries, organic muesli, almond meal, chia seeds, yoghurt and fresh grated ginger.

Almond milk energy drink

I made this for breakfast yesterday and have been dreaming of it ever since. The almond makes it thick and the date sweet and the cardamom warming.

Almond milk contains more nutrients than other dairy milk alternatives like rice milk. The health benefits provided by this option even match dairy choices. Almond milk works as a great alternative for those with soy and lactose allergies. It is high in protein, Vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, selenium, manganese, and iron. While many dairy farmers have made strides to ensure that their cows are rBGH-free, the practice of injecting dairy cows with growth hormones and antibiotics has not been completely eradicated. If you make your own almond milk from organic almonds you are sure to be avoiding this!

Fresh dates, despite being very sweet, are actually healthy. Everything in measure, I say! Dates contain B-complex vitamins and vitamin C. Dates also contain a good amount of minerals, including potassium, copper, sulfur, iron and magnesium. Dates are a particularly good source of calcium, which helps promote strong teeth and bones. Another health benefit of dates is that they are low fat. In 100 g of dates, only a fraction of a gram is saturated fats. Saturated fats can raise serum cholesterol and lead to blood vessel and heart disease, so eating foods low in these types of fats is part of a healthy diet.

Fennel, known as jeera in India, is recommended to be used in cooking daily. Its actions are: carminative, antispasmodic, stomachic, stimulant, and diuretic. It has proven useful in conditions of: indigestion, abdominal pain, including cramps and gas, diminished ama (which refers to the build-up of toxins in Ayurveda).

You can click here to read about the benefits of cardamom.

Basically, this almond drink is one big vitamin burst and you’ll love it in the morning. Be sure to have a glass of warm water half enough before to get your digestion going.

Here is how you do it:

Soak 12 almonds overnight and peel them in the morning.
In a separate bowl, soak 2 fresh dates, a teaspoon of fennel seeds and around 6 cardamom pods. Pit the dates and get the seeds out of the cardamom pods and discard the pods and blend it all up until everything is completely smooth and even the cardamom seeds have been blended. If you like vanilla you can add some vanilla too.

This is so delicious you won’t look back!

Enjoy xoxoxox

Poached Fruit for Breakfast

According to Ayurveda, the perfect breakfast is fruit. Ayurvedic eating recommends a cup of hot water with a tablespoon of lemon juice in the morning to help with elimination. It also gets digestive juices flowing and helps in the cleansing of the digestive tract. The perfect breakfast in Ayurveda is a fruit, to be followed with some warm cereal or whole wheat bread with some honey or almond butter. Ayurveda proposes it is always better to eat warm cooked foods for breakfast as it helps wake the digestive fire.

I cooked my apples, pears and rhubarb in coconut oil with ginger and cardamom. So warming and light. I served it with a side of yoghurt, honey and chia seeds and a delicious freshly brewed coffee!

Happy Wednesday everybody 🙂

Ayurvedic Roast – a healthy coffee alternative

For those of you unfamiliar with Ayurvedic medicine, here is a small intro:

Ayurveda is made up of two Sanskrit words: Ayu which means life and Veda which means the knowledge of. To know about life is Ayurveda. However, to fully comprehend the vast s cope of Ayurveda let us first define “Ayu” or life. According to the ancient Ayurvedic scholar Charaka, “ayu” is comprised of four essential parts. The combination of mind, body, senses and the soul.

Ayurveda is a wholistic system of medicine from India that uses a constitutional model. Its aim is to provide guidance regarding food and lifestyle so that healthy people can stay healthy and folks with health challenges can improve their health.
There are several aspects to Ayurveda that are quite unique:

– Its recommendations will often be different for each person regarding which foods and which lifestyle they should follow in order to be completely healthy. This is due to it’s use of a constitutional model.
– Everything in Ayurveda is validated by observation, inquiry, direct examination and knowledge derived from the ancient texts.
– It understands that there are energetic forces that influence nature and human beings. These forces are called the doshas (vata, pitta, kapha).
– Because Ayurveda sees a strong connection between the mind and the body, a huge amount of information is available regarding this relationship.

I stick pretty closely to an Ayurvedic lifestyle and diet as I find it’s what suits my body the best. I am certainly not a Western medicine girl. I was brought up this way and when I look at how healthy and full of energy my parents are compared to lots of people their age this confirms it for me. I have had some Ayurvedic treatments in India and nothing compares.

In my quest for health and keeping a balance in my lifestyle I came across the great site Dosha Guru… I did their online quiz and I get weekly tips from them via email which are really interesting and informative. Now, I am a real coffee lover. I love to indulge in coffee and I take my time every morning when getting ready to sit down with my tea or coffee and flick through a magazine or browse the latest posts on my favourite blogs. The thing is, according to my dosha, vata, too much coffee causes me to go out of balance. It makes me jittery and I don’t feel grounded, when I have too much of course. So when I came across the Ayurvedic roast by Dosha Guru I knew I had to have it. I have it every morning and I feel a great boost and not like I am running on nervous energy like I often am with coffee. What’s more, this mix is healthy. As stated on their website: “Ayurvedic Roast is made with all organic ingredients, starting with fresh roasted barley, chicory root, and rye. On top of these healthy grains, we add our own unique herbal combination which has been used for centuries in the ancient tradition of Ayurveda: Ashwagandha, Shatavari, and Brahmi”. These three herbs make for a dynamo mix and it’s a great start to your day.

I brew it in my Italian stovetop and sometimes put in some cardamom pods in there too as it’s one of my favourite spices. I’m a latté girl so I boil up a cloud of milk to have with it too. Bliss!

Afternoon Coffee

Morning Juice

There is no better way to start your day than with a fresh juice. Full of vitamins, gets your metabolism going and makes you feel bright and alive!

This particular juice was lemon, blood orange and luke warm water. Don’t have cold water first thing in the morning, it’s too hard on your system after sleeping.

Very true.

Happy Monday!

How green can you go?

My green smoothies look like this. How do you make yours? Tell me all.

It’s Sunday morning here in Paris so I’m about to go make myself my morning green smoothie. YES.

Green smoothie

Green smoothie

Kale Soup

Winter time calls for soup time. This simple recipe is something that you can make very quickly at home and is perfect for a light meal with melted cheese on toast (oops!). This soup is just so easy, see for yourselves….

Here is how I did it:
a bunch of kale
a cup of lentils
vegetable stock
a bunch of spinach

I use organic green lentils and cook them up until soft. You’ll need to then drain the water and put new water in as the base of the soup and add the vegetable stock and any herbs or spices that you wish to use. For this soup I use some garam masala and herbes de Provence. The rest is simple: add in the kale and spinach and when the soup is cooked down and soft, blend it and serve it with a dollop of crème fraîche and the zest of a lemon or lime. Yum!

our apartment

Kale soup

Kale soup

Kale soup

Kale soup

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In other news, be sure to like my boutique facebook page Cleopatra’s Bling as we will be announcing a competition this week to win a gorgeous piece of jewelry!

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