Quinoa cranberry stuffed mini-pumpkins with shitake mushrooms

Quinoa cranberry stuffed mini-pumpkins with shitake mushrooms Autumn is my favorite time of year and one of the reasons is the masses of pumpkins available everywhere. Pumpkin is such a potent food for health. It can improve your love life, help you look younger, fight heart disease, and improve your eyesight among many other benefits. This year I vowed I wouldn't let pumpkin season go by without eating my fill of them. Besides being really cute, these mini pumpkins were crying out to be stuffed with something savoury. I had a flashback of an unforgettable lunch in Tuscany where the pumpkin gnocchi was gloriously doused [...]

Top 10 green smoothie tips and recipes for the best health of your life

Top 10 green smoothie tips and recipes for the best health of your life The habits this month have been fun, but can you believe it, we're almost done the first month of our challenge! How has your 2 green smoothies a day gone? Did you get a chance yet to do it? If not, read on... your life can still change awesomely. Mine was pretty good - I'd say it was about 85% successful. I missed a few days, but all in all, a lot more green stuff got ingested than usual. I am feeling really good. In case [...]

Heart healthy green smoothie No. 4: The fibre firecracker!

Heart healthy green smoothie No. 4: The fibre firecracker! Today we're moving beyond basic green smoothies into health warrior territory! Black beans in my morning smoothie! What? This might seem a little weird at first, but if you think about Mexican cuisine, you remember that black beans, cinnamon, and chocolate were born to have parties together! Benefits of this green smoothie Black beans are considered one of the world's healthiest foods. They're full of protein, fibre, and powerful antioxidant phytonutrients called anthocyanins. These flavonoids are the same ones which give blueberries their amazing health benefits and help to reduce cancer risk. [...]

Heart healthy green smoothie No. 3: The vitamin C powerhouse

Heart healthy green smoothie No. 3: The vitamin C powerhouse Spirulina is something I put in my green smoothies almost every day. It is a protein rich, velvety green powder that is one of the most nutritious and concentrated food sources on the planet. I have put 1 tsp in this recipe. After you get used to it, you can slowly increase the amount up to 1 Tbsp a day. You will definitely want to take advantage of the health benefits of this smoothie ingredient. What I love about it is it packs such a huge punch within the tiny amount [...]

Green smoothie recipes to lower cholesterol: The Antioxidant Wonder!

Green smoothie recipes to lower cholesterol: The Antioxidant Wonder! How are your green smoothie or health resolutions coming along? If your blender is still hot from your last smoothie - well done!!! If you've fallen off the horse, don't worry, failure is to be expected and nothing to worry about. Just get your blender out and make yourself one of these bad boys! I have been playing with green smoothie recipes this month, and am excited to share today's heart healthy antioxidant wonder with you. I hope you will add this to your growing list of green smoothie recipes for [...]

6 critical things I wish I knew three years ago about how to reduce cholesterol

6 critical things I wish I knew three years ago about how to reduce cholesterol After my diagnosis with Familial hypercholesterolemia in 2011 I spent three years searching for effective natural methods to lower cholesterol and gain heart health. I actually felt a little bit like a crazy outsider for much of this journey because most of the research I uncovered advised eating foods and making lifestyle changes that were the complete opposite to what is being distributed by most well meaning but misinformed doctors, healthcare practitioners and media outlets. Below are the 6 critical facts I wish I had had on day one [...]

Nutty cranberry cake with zesty lime frosting (gluten free)

Nutty cranberry cake with zesty lime frosting (gluten free) Happy boxing day! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that you have a few cranberries kicking around because I know exactly what you're going to want to do with them! MAIN BENEFITS / WHY EAT THIS? Helps you avoid dangerous wheat and sugar while still giving you a  lovely, familiar breakfast or "coffee" cake treat Packed with heart healthy almonds, pecans, coconut oil, oranges, omega 3's (chia), cinnamon, and antioxidant laden cranberries Cranberries are a superfood that you should enjoy year round. As in this recipe, aim to eat the whole [...]

Why are fats, including coconut oil, good for your heart even though they are saturated fats?

Why are fats, including coconut oil, good for your heart even though they are saturated fats? I got a great question from a reader yesterday that I thought would be useful to share. The benefits of saturated fat, and fat in general, have been misunderstood until recently. New research from the past 5 years is causing widespread changes in dietary fat recommendations Oct 25th: QUESTION FROM AMANDA "Just wanted to thank you for putting your journey online. I am someone who was diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia since birth and have managed to stay off the statins. The diet [...]

Orange ginger oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (wheat free, gluten free)

Orange ginger oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (wheat free, gluten free) While oat week is officially over, I just had to share one more recipe from my oat week experiments. I had some trouble making a cookie that was not either rock hard or really bitter thanks to the baking soda. After finding this wonderful exposé on the gluten-free leavening agents necessary for successful baking, I did a few more tests, and voila! I finally ended up with with tasty, hard on the outside, chewy on the inside, wheat free cookies! But wait! Sin of all sins, how can cookies be [...]

Italian style savoury oatmeal with wild mushrooms, leeks and bacon

Italian style savoury oatmeal with wild mushrooms, leeks and bacon It’s Day 7, the final day of Oat Week at The Curious Giraffe! It's time for some savoury Italian oats to end Oat Week in style! Oats do such a great job in this recipe of providing a low GI starch as a base for some hearty autumnal Italian flavours. You won't believe that this is oatmeal! A new twist on a traditional risotto type Italian recipe using Oatmeal instead of rice. This dish is full of heart healthy oats, leeks, mushrooms, and garlic. MAIN BENEFITS / WHY EAT THIS? [...]