soups you!

I found a new toy and I love it! My new soup maker - it's the most rock n roll piece of kitchen equipment I have ever owned. You can make soup in it (surprise surprise as it's called a soup maker!) - chop the stuff, put it in, cook it then blend it all in one jar - brilliant! It saves on washing up which is a massive bonus as I already make a ridiculous amount of mess when I'm in the kitchen. It also works as a blender  / smoothie make too... it's a complete miracle!

So I went a bit soup mad last week. The Pea and mint soup was a revelation as it's pretty much just pea and mint...easy! I also made carrot and coriander and tomato and basil and they all rocked... even if I do say so myself.

Here's the pea and mint recipe just to prove how simple it is:

Ingredients
250g frozen peas
450ml hot vegetable stock
handful of fresh mint roughly chopped
salt and pepper

Method
1. Put the peas in the soup- maker (or pan or blender), pour over hot veg stock and leave for 5 minutes.
2. Add the mint and salt and pepper then whizz.
3. serve, eat and enjoy! :o)

With the soup maker Matt and I decided to have a bit of a detox last week to clear out our system and hopefully loose a few pounds and it was surprisingly easy. We had a juice for breakfast and lunch then soup for tea and we both lost 4 pounds.

Although, like I've said before, we are both Vegetarian and wannabe Vegans, all the research into diet and health for my Mum has really spurred us to be as Vegan as possible and so far it's actually proving to be really quite easy and we feel so much better because of it.

Also with Mum starting her chemo, the advice is to cut out some dairy products - mainly soft cheese - similar to a pregnancy diet and I want to make sure she never has to go through this crap again and make the chemo worthwhile... so we're stepping up the healthy eating and diet. More recipes coming up! :o)

Super Mum!

Add caption

It's now 7 weeks since the op and so far my Mum is kicking some serious cancer butt! She is an absolute inspiration and I'm sure everyone that has seen her over the last few months will agree. I personally am so so proud of how she has handled everything.

The Mastectomy went really well and so has her recovery. All the nurses, doctors at Leighton have been absolutely amazing and most definitely deserve a #remarkableyou!
My Mum has also asked me to thank everyone for all their support, well wishes, cards and flowers over the last couple of months - she has been overwhelmed by everyone's kindness and it has most definitely helped her through some of the tougher times.



Flowers from DK Management

We've been cracking on with the juices more than ever - concentrating on carrots and leafy greens - spinach, kale, cabbage etc and my Mum has had so many comments on how well she looks and specifically the condition of her skin - even from random people she doesn't know in the supermarket?!

The juicing revolution also continues with lots more juicer purchases this week. New passengers on board the Juicing Train include Soph & Bradders, Ross & Andrea and Damo from IK's - a true rock n roll juicer! We also bought one for Matt's Mum for her Birthday.

I'd like to think that in general I'm not too much of a preachy person (you'll probably tell me different) but this is something I am really loving learning about at the moment and I absolutely 100% believe that having a healthy diet can improve everyone's quality of life. If me going on too much and making the people I love think a bit more about what they are eating and lead to them buying a juicer in turn giving them a healthier and happier life then so be it.

Check out this vid if you have time - it's an hour and a half long but well worth the watch if you still need some convincing with the juicing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpLQwWKb3l8

My Mum being diagnosed with Cancer shook me and my family to the core. Cancer has always happened to other people and the whole 1 in 3 people will get cancer scenario has never actually meant anything until now. Cancer is caused by a number of things but mainly lifestyle - alcohol, cigarettes and diet and so I am going to do everything I can to make sure I and everyone close to me is aware of this and makes changes for the better so they don't have to go through what my Mum is going through. So thanks again for everyone who is taking the time to read the blog, listen to me going on and has embraced the juicing revolution. I can't tell you how much it means. I feel VERY lucky to have such open-minded and totally awesome friends!! :o) xxx

The Juicing Revolution







All Aboard

Woah, so the juice train is on track and getting ready to leave the station!

I started the Blog as a bit of a personal thing to document mine and my Mum's journey. If it inspired anyone to reconsider their eating habits then brilliant but for people to actually go out and buy a juicer because of it is just absolutely amazing!

Our good friends Carrie and James from Enzo in Nantwich got on board this week and their son Oscar certainly seems to be enjoying it! Thanks guys - I really appreciate all your support and I'm very looking forward to our first juicing party!

When I mentioned this to my Mum she told me she's got two people to buy juicers over the last two weeks and even has a strategy... at this point I made her aware that Argos are not giving us any commission.

Apparently, when friends come round she lures them in with a nice sweet tasting pineapple juice then once they've submitted she socks them with a broccoli juice!

The juicing has been the constant over the last couple of months. We've had so many ups and downs with the cancer but this has been something really positive we can concentrate on.

One of the biggest downs after finding out the cancer had spread to the Lymph Nodes was when we received the results from an Ultra Sound scan and it showed grey areas on My Mum's Liver and Uterus. I think this may have been the worst day of my life so far. My Mum called and let me know the hospital had cancelled her op because they need to investigate further, so I told her that of course it is just routine and grey areas can mean anything and it is absolutely, most definitely going to be nothing....  then I put the phone down and physically began to shake - I felt so scared, helpless and out of control to the point where it actually hurt.

Luckily though, after a CT scan it turned out that the grey area on the Uterus were just cysts which were nothing to worry about - at this point we felt like we'd won the lottery. They weren't so sure about the Liver. They said they were also likely to just be cysts but that they needed to investigate further with an MRI scan but for now the Mastectomy could be rescheduled for the week after. We were back on track!

Raw Key Lime Pie

A couple of months ago I bought the most amazing book - The Ultimate Book Of Vegan Cooking. As well as having lots of gorgeous recipes it provides practical and helpful advice on health and nutrition. Even if you are not Vegan or planning on going Vegan it is definitely worth having it on hand for general information on vitamins and minerals, herbs and spices etc.

Yesterday my Mum and I tried one of the recipes and it is delicious so I thought I'd share it with you:

Raw Key Lime Pie - serves 6 (or two in our case!)

For the filling
75g / 6 tbsp. extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil (We couldn't find this in the supermarket and so we mixed coconut milk with some extra virgin olive oil)
250g avocado flesh, roughly 2 medium avocados with skin and stones removed
75g ready to eat dried apricots
10ml/ 2tsp pumpkin seed oil (again we couldn't find this so used a nut based oil)
finely grated rind of 2 limes
juice of 1 lime
15ml/tbsp. agave syrup (you can also use honey as an alternative but this would not be suitable for Vegans)

For the base
50g ground pumpkin seeds
50g ground almonds
75g medjool dates, chopped
15ml / 1 tbsp. agave syrup (again honey would work)

1. Blend together all the ingredients for the base in a food processor or blender until you have a nice firm dough

2. Lightly oil a 20cm/8inc pie dish, Scrape the dough from the processor or blender and press the dough into the base of the dish, ensuring it is evenly distributed.

3. Melt the coconut oil in a heatproof bowl in a pan of hot water.

4. Blend together the avocados, dried apricots, pumpkin oil and lime rind and juice in a food processor or blender, Gradually stir in the melted coconut oil.

5. Spread the mixture evenly on to the pie base using a palette knife or metal spatula. Chill for about 2 hours.

6. EAT! It tastes absolutely amazing and is packed with vitamin E - essential for healthy skin, circulation and maintaining cells.
Vitamin E deficiency is characterised by increased risk of heart attack, strokes and certain cancers.

Enjoy! :o) xx

Rock n Rollercoaster

Anyone who knows me will probably agree that I'm a bit of a control freak. I say bit because I'm not a 'Monica' (from Friends) or even an 'Andrea' (Millar!) but I do generally like to know what's going on and have a plan.

This year so far it's been pretty impossible. Since my Mum has been diagnosed, everything has felt so wishy washy- there has been no exact answers or plans and things have changed on a weekly basis - something I have really struggled with and I know the uncertainty and waiting on results has been really hard for my Mum and the rest of the family too.

We've felt really frustrated with the whole process and at times with the doctors and nurses even though they have been absolutely amazing and they can only tell you what they know - we have just wanted some definite answers and a plan.

It's felt like such a crazy roller coaster ride and I really don't like roller coasters - they give me a headache.

My Mum was diagnosed with Grade 2 Breast Cancer and had decided to have a full Mastectomy with a reconstruction using the muscle from her back. This was going to be a big operation but the results look amazing and so although she had the cancer to worry about, the feelings that come with losing a breast would be alleviated a bit as she would have a nice shiny new one.

Before Mum could have the Mastectomy and reconstruction they had to do a small operation to remove some Lymph Nodes to test if the cancer had spread. Of course I new it definitely wouldn't have spread but understood they had to do this as a precautionary measure.

The results came back and it had spread. They took 3 Lymph Nodes out and it had spread to all 3. That meeting was tough and came with more bad news... because it had spread my Mum wouldn't be able to have the reconstruction... not for a while anyway.

At this point we were all starting to feel like we were taking a bit of a battering and we really wanted to stop the ride and get off...

Fruit V's Veg

Generally the more veg juices the better as the fruit ones have too much sugar in them which we've already established is bad for cancer.

But, I'd say a fresh fruit juice is still better than no fruit or veg juice at all especially if you are in good general health.

We try and stick to two veg juices to one fruit juice.

We're having lots of fun trying out different recipes - either from books or on line and we're also experimenting quite a lot... which doesn't always work out that well! This is usually when we have lots of veg that needs using up quickly and so we juice it all in one go... most of the time it leads to a 'nose holder' but sometimes we're pleasantly surprised.

Another benefit of juicing is that you have much less food waste!

With The Philips juicer from Argos we received a free Juice Master recipe book which has been really helpful especially as it lists the recipes to deal with different ailments like this one for cold and flu:

2 carrots
2 apples
1 inch slice of lemon
1/4 inch of fresh ginger
2 ice cubes

It then explains why it is good for you:

This juice is rich in vitamin C, which helps sweep up free radicals and keeps tissues strong and healthy. The citric acid and ginger are wonderful at eliminating toxins from the body and aiding digestion. Ginger is also a natural antibiotic and one of nature's supreme decongestants.
This juice is full of dietary fibre, thanks to the simple apple, which oozes vitamins and minerals as well as being terrific for overall cleansing of the system.

There's loads more of these as well as Jason Vale's (The Juice Master) story on his website: http://www.juicemaster.com/juice-therapy/why-juice