Trying to maintain a good balance of essential nutrition whilst at the same time keeping things interesting can be a real headache. So, using imagination as much as using a variety of ingredients is the key, in my opinion, and not allowing your mind to restrict itself to conventional ways of preparing ingredients. For example, many ingredients we generally use in cooked dishes can in fact be consumed raw, such as turmeric.
When using turmeric in powder form we combine with something like black pepper in order to absorb the curcumin - the key active ingredient. However, one of the advantages of eating fresh raw turmeric is that - due to curcumin being fat soluble - the turmeric oil contained in the fresh turmeric means we can absorb the curcumin without needing to use any combo ingredient. Great!
Curcumin is the chemical produced in turmeric which gives its bright-yellow colour. It has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, helping reduce pain and protect our cells from ageing and disease. Many people suffering chronic pain conditions such as arthritis or fibromayalgia report benefits from taking curcumin supplements or turmeric as a regular part of their diets.
Ingredients (organic recommended):
carrots
fresh turmeric
mango
ripe bananas
clementines
water
Directions:
Slice up the carrots, skin and all...
Finely slice/chop/grate the turmeric...
Pop into a blender and cover with cold water. Blitz to smooth...
Peel and dice the mango...
Peel bananas...
Peel clementines...
Add to the blender, cover with plenty of water, and blitz again to smooth and golden!
Pour into suitable containers for freezing (glass jars are perfect, but if using plastic try to get BPA free). You could also get ice-lolly moulds and make them easy for children to eat.
You can also drink this as a smoothie, so just pour into a jar/bottle and pop into the fridge.
See, there really is gold at the end of these Irish rainbows...
Many thanks to @lenasveganliving for continuing to host this wonderful weekly contest! For inspiration and details how to join in, please see Lena's post here.
To find out what the "Make It Healthy Project" is all about, and how you can be involved in growing this project, please click here.
CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU! A WELL-EARNED AWARD!
Oh wow, I wasn't expecting that at all! Thanks so much to my dearest buddies Lena and Amy!!! x
You are most welcome Joanna and I hope you are ready to be our HONORABLE GUEST JUDGE again 🍒 🍌🍑🌿🍍🍓🍇
Yep indeed I am!!! Have you tried to get on Steemit Chat the last few days by the way? I can't get on at all but don't see any posts about problems... Not sure what's going on. But yes, I'm absolutely looking forward to drooling over the entries again! Oh - I finally got round to listening to your vegan special radio show... you were wonderful! Me and hubby sat in the sun yesterday afternoon and listened to the whole show and I have to say, I'm now persuaded enough about veganism and seriously thinking of making that final leap to 100% plant. Excellent information... I will be mentioning it for sure in a post at some point. Well done, and thank you!!!
Yum, this looks so nourishing!
This is a fantastic idea for children! I just discovered fresh tumeric in South Africa for the first time ever. So excited I bought it an nursing to plant in spring. I was also going to do a Golden recipe today but will wait a bit and let your amazing Golden glow get all the love
Aw that's very sweet and thoughtful of you, thank you :-) I look forward to seeing what your golden recipe is!
Turmeric is such a fantastic and under-appreciated plant, and I'm delighted you managed to find some... Now we can all eagerly await the many turmeric recipes you will no doubt share once its grown and harvested!!!
Will do! I love the flavour and the colour! Looks like a royal Jerusalem artichoke - which I love - do you ever roast or eat them raw? As in, alone, not in a dish?
It's actually quite difficult to get those here... only one place that I know of sells them, and only at certain times of year when in season. So I am not very clued about about Jerusalem artichoke! I bought some a while ago and put in a casserole, and honestly I didn't notice the flavour. What are they like? How would you recommend preparing them for the nicest way to eat?
Oh I love them! They really grow like weeds here. We have patches of their very tall daisy type flowers coming up all over and once they've died back then we dig. The only way I've ever eaten them is steamed or baked - like a potato. Add a dash of olive or coconut oil and a teeny bit of salt. Really yummy. Even cold they're good. I guess they are more potato tasting so I think they would be lost in a casserole
This is tasty believe me, and to think it's sugar free is even more amazing, I've never tried making it natural this way, wow it's really been a long time I saw your blog post
When using sweet fruits such as mango and ripe bananas, there's no need for sugar! I would never use sugar in anything, especially if a child is going to eat it. Thanks for stopping by! :-)
Well over here we basically put sugar In everything we drink or cook, I'm going to try and make this myself, thank you zo much
Yes, please try to stop using sugar... for the sake of your health! Not only does it 'feed' disease, but can cause disease too. If you need to add sweetness you can use natural alternatives, such as ripe fruit, vegetables such as sweet potato, honey, maple syrup, dates... all kinds of things!
This elixir of gods must taste like heaven Joanna, while offering so many helath benefits. Very impressive my Dear.............drinking this while eating healthy is all we need to prevent disease 🍒 🍌🍑🌿🍍🍓🍇
Thank you Lena! I'm hoping in time it might help with fibro symptoms... for some reason I'm experiencing more stiffness & pain the last couple months, but can't figure out why! I'm all for introducing as many disease-fighting, cell-repairing, body-rejuvenating ingredients into my diet as I possibly can! I want to enjoy life without afflictions, and my son too :-)
Why would you thing it's fibro? I have scoliosis and arthritis and I am in lots pf pain. Unfortunately nothing can help with that. I have scoliosis since I am teenager and it just getting worse last 10 years since I turned 40 :(
I was diagnosed with fibromayalgia about 6 years ago, so unless I've developed something else then I assume it's that!!! It improved a lot when I cut out processed foods and sugar which was interesting and encouraging, but as I say I'm in more pain recently and am desperate for relief. I'm not inclined to visit the doctor unless I can help it... in my experience they're not very sympathietic or indeed very knowledgeable about these things. I'm sorry to hear you endure pain too... it's so horrid when you can't escape from it. Is there really nothing that can improve things for you? x
I am sorry to hear that Joanna, you are very young to be in pain. At least in my age it's more acceptable. And as far the help and sympathy of doctors, I can totally relate. They are very limited with their ability to help. What we both need is vegan holistic retreat with yoga and swimming. But you know how expensive that is. Nevertheless, I hope you get better soon. I would just suggest to try 100% vegan and raw as much as possible. Swimming if you have a place to go at least couple times a week. Sending lots of love 💖😊💖
Swimming not really an option (I won't go in chlorinated pools, and though I live close to the sea my son has never been swimming yet and I can't leave him on the beach whilst I swim haha ;-) But veggies is most definitely an option I can do, and I have started eating more raw lately, not sure why, I just fancy fresh, cool, and crunchy! But after listening to the Vegan Special radio show I am super interested what a couple people were saying about how they noticed inflammation and bloating and muscle repair improved once they became vegan, so I'm well up for trying it for myself. I've been pondering veganism for a good while, but now I feel the time has at last come. I have a few things I'm not certain how to replace with vegan options - the main one is scones, because I eat one every day for supper and they contain egg, milk AND butter! so quite hard to adjust that recipe. Might have to do some experimenting, and even if I can't replicate the taste/texture as I'm used to, I may be able to create something equally delicious. The other things are butter (to spread) and mayonnaise (usually as a dressing for coleslaw) but I know for sure these are easy to make vegan. Anyway, I have a few ingredients on my shopping list for tomorrow! Am quite excited!
Sounds like a plan Joanna. I personally replaced butter with avocado for breakfast which wasn't hard at all, quite the opposite, lol. Also organic peanut butter, or any other nut butter on toast with fruits. Regarding your scones, I am sure you will figure out how to veganize them. So good luck and if you have any questions, you know you can ask anyone from our vegan family 💚😊💚
PS: I just looked up vegan scones recipe and I would suggest this one, since Minimalist Baker is one of the top foodes I know: https://minimalistbaker.com/coconut-oil-blueberry-scones-with-rosemary/
This looks super delicious dear! I do my golden smoothie with banana, mango and turmeric!
Lovely! Golden smoothies are wonderful. The sweet fruits give a wonderful balance to the 'woody' taste of turmeric, and looks beautiful too!
That is definitely a bit of gold I would gladly take! I didn't realize that about the fresh turmeric and not needing to use black pepper with it. Thanks for a new tip! I was finally able to invest in a Vitamix thanks to building up points on Amazon and a great deal on the refurbished ones, so I can't wait to put it to the test with delicious things like this!
Yes, I was pleased to read that, but I should always say "don't take my word for it but look it up for yourself" so even though I feel sure I'm correct in that bit of info, it doesn't hurt to double-check! I'm jealous of your Vitamix, what a great purchase - you'll have to let me know in time if it's truly a life-changer like others claim, and perhaps one day if ever I can afford it, I will join your Vitamix gang!!!
So far it is definitely worth it, though it is still quite early on. I've been really working on budgeting in other areas, so I'm so happy I was finally able to make it happen. My kitchen itself is pretty old and ugly, but at least I can have a few really nice tools in it to distract me from the mustardy beige counter tops, haha!
Mustardy beige kitchen tops? Surely that's the kitchen equivalent of avocado-coloured toilet, sink & bath! Nice granny colours haha :-) What a good thing you have an exciting gadget to balance things out!
Oh yes, at least Dave remodeled the awful pink bathroom with black counters. Although we still have the seafoam green 1960's tile in the upstairs bath... ;)
Oh my, this looks so rich, it made me salivate....I bet it tastes amazing. Tumeric is so helpful with inflamation nice to add it as a frozen dessert, perfect for the hot summers. Love it!
It works really nicely as a frozen dessert actually! Or re-blend for a 'slushi', which is also very refreshing on a hot afternoon! Thank you :-)
I was totally thinking slushie !!!!! So refreshing!!! :)
This is a fantastic idea! I love the photo with the rainbow 🌈! Funny idea!
Hehe thanks @pusteblume, you're the first to notice that one! I always liked the idea of finding gold at the end of a rainbow :-)
The good thing is, that one of the sides of the rainbow ends right in your house. You don't have to go far then to find the "gold". It's right where you are ... 😉
:-) No indeed, I am the richest woman on the planet :-)
❤️
This is a fantastic post. Love turmeric. Such an undervalued healing root. It's so good for you. Does your little one like the turmeric flavor? BTW love the Irish rainbow addition xxx
Thank you Amy!!! Yes, Sky loves all the fruity frozen desserts I make so far, and fingers crossed he continues to enjoy them! It's such a brilliant way of getting nutrition into him, as sometimes he doesn't want his dinner but I don't have to worry because he's already had lots of goodness earlier in the day! I just thought I'd add the rainbow for fun hehe :-)
How is your little godson getting on by the way? Have you seen him lately and showered his Mama with homebaked goodies?!
They are doing great. Can't wait to see them again. For now we see eachother on skype and videos as we live so far apart. Planning my next trip just after summer. So cool Sky is loving all your nutriton and love packed yummies.
This looks so good! I think I'll try it with a little pineapple added in.
Pineapple would work wonderfully, yes!!! I hope you enjoy it! :-) Thank you @deanna2000