Soup for a 9 degree day

It's freezing today! That has led me to crave some good old hearty warm soup to keep me going.

Here is the recipe, which can be adapted to vegetarian (choose veg stock & omit chicken).

"Warm me up" Lentil soup - Serves 4-5

4 litres filtered water
250g mixed lentils, soaked for 1 hour in water. Discard water.
4 Massel stock cubes (Veg/Chicken)
1 onion, sliced
1 medium leek, sliced
1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
3 fresh corn, chopped into 3 pieces each
4 tomatoes, chopped into cubes
3 carrots, chopped in chunks
4 potatoes, chopped in chunks
1 free range/organic chicken breast
2 tbsp tamari sauce
1 tbsp dried herbs (thyme, parsley, rosemary)
dash of pepper
4 tbsp Rice bran oil

In a medium heated pan, add 2 tbsp of rice bran oil. Add the chicken breast and cook 7 mins on each side. Put aside and allow meat to cool. Slice the chicken breast into thin shreds.

Add 2 tbsp of rice bran oil to the pan and cook the onion, leek and mushrooms till brown. In a huge pot of boiling water, add the ingredients: lentils, onion, leek, mushrooms, chicken breast, corn, stock cubes, carrots and potatoes.

Bring soup to boil for 20 mins and reduce to simmer for 10 mins. Add tamari sauce, pepper, dried herbs and tomatoes. Simmer for another 20 mins.

Enjoy! P.S. most people do not soak lentils. From my experience, I get indigestion if I do not soak lentils.

Debunking the milk myths

Advertisements and dairy companies tell us that consuming cow's milk builds healthy bones. The calcium content of cow's milk and yogurt stands at 200-400mg of calcium per cup. The truth is, there are dairy free alternative options out there that do the same job.

Many people are lactose intolerant and lack the enzyme lactase to break down dairy products. Other calcium sources include:

1) Sardines: 400mg of calcium per 3 oz.

2) What about the humble Sesame? 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds equals to 88mg of calcium. This high source alternative should be considered. Sesame is made into sesame butter, also called Tahini. The unhulled version contains more B vitamins and minerals.



What other nutrients drive healthy bones?
Besides calcium, Vitamin D (derived from 10 minutes of sunshine a day or a healthy serve of sardines) is also important in maintaining bone health.

Magnesium and calcium work together in maintaining healthy bones, so a great vegetarian option for magnesium is almond milk. Combine consumption with calcium rich unhulled Tahini on gluten free bread. Talk about real food choices for bones!

There's a time for everything

I used to wonder if there was a greater force outside ourselves that lead us down to a path less traveled. I do believe this force exists, as the reason why I decided to study Naturopathy was a personal inspiration by another Naturopath who solved my health problems.

During the last few days, I faced some difficulties that were outside my control. I began to reflect on the feeling of being unable to accept these difficulties, in a way that I felt attached to the final outcome. Then I realized that there is always a time for everything to fall into place and unfortunately with the situation I am faced with, there was no choice but to accept it as it is.

Have you ever experienced a similar situation like this? Do share.