Fruit Frequency

It's one of the more important discoveries of my life and has cranked up my aspiration towards a long and healthy life. I really believe this is possible. Up your fruit intake and tune into the fruit frequency.

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Raw Fruit Festival Spain

Had an awesome time in Spain with my fruity friends again this year. I also made a little video about it. Check it out here: https://youtu.be/5e_T5pNsOtA

Join us next year! More info on the festival at their website: http://www.raw-fruit-festival.net/

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Fun Facts About Veggies

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Back to Nature 

This documentary is a good reminder of just how amazing nature is! There’s still a lot to discover. So many beautiful fruits with incredible properties: taste, medicinal, coloring. 

These days there’s so much emphasis on technology. I appreciate human creativity and innovation, but we need to take a few steps back and broaden our knowledge of what nature already offers. 

“...in environments and ecological niches all over the world, that there are .. life forms and that somehow man has left them behind in his race to modernize. .. And if we go back to nature, we are going to discover things which will carry us into the future in a much more wealthy fashion than we have done.” - Joseph Simcox

You are going to love fruit even more after watching this!

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Tanny Raw on Self Love

I really want to up my level of #raw. If you want motivation, Tanny’s YouTube channel is the place to be!

It’s so inspiring to listen to her, because it’s obvious she’s been down that road. She has so much experience and the authenticity of her wanting to spread the message to help as many people as possible is just palpable through the computer screen. 

The ending of the video is just the sweetest!

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Victoria RawVegan Answers my Question

On Instagram I asked: What’s the one thing that keeps you motivated to stay #rawvegan. Check the video. It’s the first thing she answers. 

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Love the melody and the lyrics.

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Oh no, my vitamin D is too low!

A month ago I got my blood tested. I was curious about my levels of B12. They ticked the box for a vitamin D check up as well. The results: my B12 was fine (I take a supplement once in a while, not really a regular thing yet), but my vitamin D was low. That low in fact that my doctor told me to supplement with 1 ml per week for 10 weeks. He also told me to supplement when winter comes.

Could have known

It wasn't a big surprise that my levels were low. I had a warning before. When I was a management consultant, in winter, I would not see any daylight at all. But I thought I had enough of sun these past few years. Last year I spent 7 weeks in the tropics and the summer in The Netherlands wasn't too shabby either. Apparently that still is not enough, and why did I actually think it would be?

Lacking knowledge

This is really typical, I think I know enough, but in the end I don't. Vitamin D can be found in fatty fish like salmon, egg yolk and most margarines etc are enriched with it, but the most important source for everybody is sunlight. That's why I thought I would be fine, even if I didn't eat all the other things anymore. Not.

"More and more people are vitamine D deficient and we're not really sure why that is." That's what my doctor told me. That statement alone is already quite interesting. Who knows? You might have a vitamin D deficiency too!

On the Internet, the symptoms I came across are things like lack of energy, tiredness, aches in muscles and joints, weak bones (how can you feel a thing like that, before you break something?!). Thing is, I didn't get my blood tested because I was noticing any symptoms, I was just curious about my B12 levels. I must admit though, I do feel even better than before.

A dose of sunshine happiness

That could be the case because I'm on holiday now :-). There are just so many factors that are interdependent that I can't really state that all my moments of tiredness had to do with my vitamin D deficiency. One of my most important areas of improvement for example is just sleep more.

In the end I'm glad that the blood test got some facts on the table and I can recommend everybody to do a check up so you don't need to guess. Also vitamin D really got my attention now. People with dark(er) skin, like me, need to be extra careful. This winter I'm definitely taking a supplement or spending the winter somewhere warm and sunny. 

My quest on the Internet provided me with another fun fact: you can get vitamin D from eating mushrooms. Perfect fit with my plant strong lifestyle. I also will be making sure I get my minimum of 30 minutes outside in the sun.

If you have any vitamin D tips and tricks, let me know. I will keep you posted on my own progress towards more knowledge. There's still lots to learn. 

Love, Rieta

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Oosterse Noodles op ‘t Bordje Gezond

Ik neig me te houden aan dat wat ik al kan, want dat is nu eenmaal het makkelijkst. Dit betekent dat ik in mijn dagelijkse etensbereiding weinig nieuws probeer. Daarom is het video’s maken voor jullie zo goed voor mij, zo probeer ik nog eens wat!

De vorige keer heb ik een tomatensaus gebruikt, dit keer laat ik een Oosterse saus zien met tamarinde in de hoofdrol. Dat is een van mijn favoriete tropische smaken. 

Noodles eerst is handig

Bij raw vegan recepten maakt de volgorde niet zo heel veel uit. Ik heb ontdekt dat het handiger is om met de noodles te beginnen. Stukjes groenten die je overhoudt, gooi je daarna ook in de blender bij de saus.

Voor de noodles / groenten mix zijn de volgende ingrediënten gebruikt:

1 Courgette

Taugé

In plaats van courgette zou je ook Chinese radijs kunnen gebruiken. Dat wilde ik eigenlijk gebruiken, maar ik kon het niet vinden bij het boodschappen doen. Wil je extra groenten in de mix? Denk dan aan wortel, rode paprika, champignons, sugarsnaps, rode kool .. van alles kan er dus bij! 

Blender doet het werk

Afhankelijk van hoeveel werk je blender in één keer aan kan doe je de ingrediënten tegelijk of in stappen erin. Voor de saus gebruiken we:

Mango

In de video gedroogde abrikozen, maar liefst gebruik ik dadels

Tamarinde saus

Stukje Gember

Koriander

Spaans pepertje / gedroogde pepertjes

Limoen

De limoen was ik vergeten! Dat is wat ik miste, want limoen brengt alle smaken naar boven. Ik had het een paar dagen na het filmen weer gemaakt en ja, veel beter alweer.

Om te garneren hebben we hier wat pindaatjes gebruikt. Je kunt ook kiezen voor een ander nootje of zaadje, zoals pistache, cashew of sesamzaadjes.

Tot het volgende experiment!

Liefs, Rieta

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Fine-tuning recipes #workinprogress

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Fruitontbijtje op ‘t Bordje Gezond

Wil je meer fruit toevoegen aan je leven? Niets zo makkelijk als starten met een fruitontbijtje. Zo gefixed, erg lekker en gezond. 

Dit zijn de ingrediënten die wij hebben gebruikt:

Mango

Blauwe bessen

Frambosen

Aarbeien

Gedroogde witte moerbeien

Kokosrasp

Sap van half limoentje

Natuurlijk kun je met een fruitontbijt alle kanten op. Genoeg variatie, zeker in de zomer. Zorg dat je ook fruit gebruikt met veel calorieën, zoals mango, of banaan en eet minstens het dubbele van wat je hier ziet. Ik red het anders niet tot aan de lunch. Maar iedereen is anders. Experimenteer!

Veel liefs, Rieta 

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Adopt this lifestyle? Start with breakfast

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Sickness and health

When we're sick we've got a pretty clear picture how that feels like and a vast vocabulary to accompany it: lousy, horrible , uuugh-aaaaiiii-booohh. Everyone understands exactly what you mean :-) We're pretty good at describing the symptoms as well: throbbing head, sore throat, runny nose, sweating cold, stiff muscles, a whole body in PAIN! We've all experienced it.

But what if we're feeling better? What do we say and do then? "Yeah great, same old same old, everything's peachy." Back to business as usual and back to our regular routines. 

Our body

When you're sick you're sick, but when you're not sick, does that mean you're healthy? I wouldn't dare give a definition of health. Our body is so complex and nobody knows exactly how it all works. What does intrigue me is that area in between being sick and feeling healthy. It's far from black and white and in that area our immune system and the strength of our body to heal itself play an important role in my opinion.

I wonder whether we are not too quick in accepting that it could happen. Especially when there's a virus floating around, we easily accept that we got hit by the bug as well. But what is the relationship to the few hours of sleep, stress at work, lack of fruits and vegetables in our meals ?

Thought Experiment

When we are sick, we dedicate our full attention to patch ourselves up again. Rest, fresh orange juice, herbal tea, chicken soup and a dose of aspirin to help us up on our feet. But where is the attention when we are better to make sure we go to bed on time, exercise and get enough vitamins in on a daily basis? Where is the investment in our resilience so that we are less likely to get sick?

I certainly do not want to propagate pessimism and declare all of us in a constant state of sickness, but as a thought experiment it may provide some insights. Are you healthy when climbing a few stairs leaves you out of breath? How is it really going when you need a coffee every hour to feel awake and alert? Is that 'muffin top' really just a matter of buying a bigger size? I am entirely for freedom of choice and (self) acceptance, but also know from experience that there's a thin line between accepting and ignoring.

In the long run

Our body is ingenious, it adapts and can take on quite a bit. But in the same way we think of the sustainability of our planet, we should think about the sustainability of our bodies. Aren't we demanding too much from our bodies by just fighting the symptoms when we're sick and ignoring the causes when we're 'healthy' again. In the long run we're depleting the strength of our bodies. 

That's why my focus is on health and I try to fit this into my lifestyle wherever possible. Am I sick? No. Am I healthy? There's room for improvement.

How do you deal with being sick, or rather, how do you manage your health? Let me know in the comments.

Love Rieta

Want to read the article in Dutch? Click here.

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Zucchini Pasta with Tomato Sauce

English subtitles available! Click on the icon bottom right of the video to enable them. 

My debut on YouTube is a fact . I do not have a large repertoire, so I started with this lovely recipe.

Raw zucchini is delicious!

The first time I tried a raw zucchini, I was really surprised how good it tasted. 

If I want to get a lot of vegetables in, but don't fancy a salad, I'll make this raw pasta. I've never really replicated one single recipe of the tomato sauce and often it is much simpler than I present in this video, in other words just tomatoes and basil.

But for you I did research and watched over 20 YouTube videos for inspiration. Some aspects I took from the raw vegan cuisine, such as the use of sun dried tomatoes to intensify the flavor and make the sauce thicken and others from the Italian cuisine, such as using a carrot and celery. Celery is also widely used in the raw vegan kitchen.

Celery is the replacement for the salt shaker

Especially if you have been eating low-salt or salt-free, you really start to taste it. Celery is a delicious flavor and excellent replacement for the pinch of salt.

A clove of garlic, a green onion, I would also be fine without it, but if you are a fan, leave it on your ingredient list. You can hardly go wrong with this recipe and it remains a matter of taste so make adjustments until it is completely to your liking.

For example my cousin did not like it at all, she thought it tasted like gazpacho, not her favorite. I advised her to add some fruit if she ever wanted to try it. Mango, for example is used a lot, but grapes or dates are also good additions, if you want a sweeter sauce .

100 % raw too extreme?

Why not try just part of the recipe, for instance just the raw zucchini pasta with your favorite sauce. Or if you hate the idea of raw pasta, then use regular pasta and mix it with the raw sauce. If it's the cold sauce that bothers you, warm it up a bit ( body temperature ).

Below you can read what I have used and the steps I've taken.

This can be used for the pasta with sauce:

2 courgettes

± 300 grams wild tomatoes or cherry tomatoes

± 4 pieces of sundried tomatoes ( in oil)

2 stalks celery

1 carrot

Keep basil leaves to taste for the sauce and 1 sprig for garnish.

1 spring onion

1 Spanish pepper ( in video we have seeds in it and let it become tough back panel . So let them away , if you do not like it )

clove of fresh garlic

Pitted black olives

Optional: salt and pepper

Here are the steps:

Depending on the strength of your blender, slice tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, celery, carrot, basil, spring onion, chili and garlic into (smaller) pieces. Throw everything in a blender, all at once or in stages, again depending on your blender. Eventually you get a nice smooth sauce . I have not added other fluids, because the tomatoes contain a lot of moisture and I did not want a watery sauce .

Make the zucchini noodles, with or without skin, whatever you prefer. To avoid getting one endless string it is advised to cut before serving. The have strings at a more normal length, you can carve the zucchini over the length before you start, maybe about half a centimeter deep or even less.

Make the pasta just before eating or serving, because the zucchini obviously contains a lot of moisture, the longer it sits, the more water you'll find at the bottom of your plate or bowl.

Curious to know if you're going to try this. Let me know your experiences and of course love to hear your comments and suggestions .

Love, Rieta

Want to read the article in Dutch? Click here.

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My ex- favorite pizza

Crispy bottom, soft mozzarella, spicy gorgonzola, sweet pear. This pizza truly is a feast. Since the discovery of the Contadina at my local pizzeria, the rest of the menu has become irrelevant. I recommend the Contadina wholeheartedly to others and they also become addicted. Yes, this definitely is my favorite pizza. Once seated at the table I would immediately order: La Contadina.

I'm guessing pizza for many people is in their top 10, maybe top 5 favorite things to eat. One summer after high school, I worked in Southern Italy at a restaurant and ate the most delicious pizzas almost every day. Right there and then my love for pizza was born. And what's indispensable on a pizza? Cheese.

As a newbie vegan back at my pizzeria I needed to adjust. First, I had to take a look at the menu again and in the listing of pizzas I just came across mozzarella, mozzarella and again mozzarella. Another Contadina? It's not like I eat pizza every day, not even every week, so once every now and then wouldn't hurt?

Exception to the rule

Before I would apply this exception to the rule, I wanted to try one more thing. The only pizza on the menu without cheese. A classic: la Marinara with just tomato sauce, garlic, olive oil and fresh oregano. Definitely a tasty pizza, but a new favorite pizza? No.

I thought the biggest challenge would be giving up cheese. A cheese sandwich really was part of my daily menu. But the pizza Marinara has given me a reason to stay away from cheese.

Although I wasn't as overwhelmed by the taste as with the Contadina, it has opened my eyes to what cheese does to me. After eating the Marinara, I still felt light as a feather. Felt like I could eat one more pizza. After eating the Contadina I always would have that heavy feeling. I know now, that's because of the hunk of cheese in my stomach.

I will miss the Contadina and admittedly, that first evening I did steal a slice of my sister's plate. Last week I sticked to my Marinara. I did order some marinated artichoke hearts and put them on ​​my pizza, making it somewhat less boring.

Oh well, life is full of choices and I choose light over cheese.

What are your experiences with cheese? Is it something you would ever consider removing out of your diet? Or maybe you already don't eat cheese anymore? How has the transition been for you? Let me know in the comments.

Want to read this post in Dutch? Click here.

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Am I a stubborn monkey!?

“What! eight, that's really too much” “Bananas are healthy” “Sure, one maybe, but not that many, too much sugars.” “Healthy sugars. Some people eat around thirty a day!”

With horror she looked at my banana stash. On a good day about 5 to 6 bunches. A necessity. For a continuous supply of brown speckled, super sweet bananas, you have to buy them in time to let them ripen some more from what the supermarket considers ripe.  

Fruit eaters

When I discovered fruit eaters like Freelee, Kristina en Megan I didn't need much to be convinced. Not because they looked vibrant and healthy (every diet has it's super healthy pioniers), but because the idea really appealed to me. Sometimes things just make sense immediately. 

Of all the nutrition guidelines, "eat your fruit" was my favorite. It never lacked in my house, eating my veggies was a bigger problem. But the bunch of bananas I ate in one week, is now my breakfast. I try to eat as much fruit and vegetables as I can, and so bananas come in really handy. All fruit and veggies are packed with vitamins and minerals, in that respect bananas are not necessarily better. Eat as diverse as possible! It's especially because of the ease, why bananas are such a staple for me. 

You can get them all year round at any supermarket or grocery store.

They usually are cheaper than other fruit.

With an average of 100 kcal a banana, you get an immediate energy kick.

They are an excellent base for a smoothie. Just add different combinations of fruit and veggies.

One banana is different from the other

Bananas make my life as a plant eater way more easy. A nice starting point for endless variation. What do you fancy? A bright color by adding some strawberries or any other berry. Extra sweet with some dates or carob powder. Freshly green with cucumber or spinach. A bit more texture by adding less water, a porridge with some mulberries mixed in. 

For me bananas are here to stay. 

“None for you? More for me!”

PS: want to read the article in Dutch, click here.