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❤ Green Papaya Smoothie

Wednesday, 30 April 2014 / No Comments

It’s official: I'm hooked on papayas!

Papayas have never been a fave fruit of mine until I started blending them.Yes, I know they are is rich in enzymes called papain and chymopapain which helps with digestion, particularly it breaks down the proteins from the food we eat into amino acids. Even latest research shows that amino acids are responsible for all what is happening in our organism, basically for what is happening in every chemical reaction as well as our mental and physical health.

What's I find particularly amazing is all the parts of the papaya fruit are useful and beneficial. Right from the seeds to the papaya leaves and the flesh of the fruit, all of it has some value. Both the inside and the outside of the fruit can be utilized .Thus no part of the fruit is useless or goes as a waste.

Yet all along, I only ate it because of it's benefits not because I enjoy it. Until, one day I decided to include it in a smoothie. Now, I cant seem to get enough. It is great because along with savouring the taste you are also ingesting all the benefits associated with eating the fruit, which will result in good health for you ! Did you know papaya even works magic on strengthening the immune system preventing the recurrent colds and flu
Yes, it's that good.

So anyway, the recipe;

Green Papaya Smoothie

2 handfuls of fresh spinach
2 cups frozen papaya
2 ripe Julie mangoes, sliced.
1 frozen apple
3 dates
2 Tbsp chia seeds, ground.
1 tablespoon of fresh papaya seeds
3 cups living water (or young coconut water and meat)
1 tsp coconut oil (optional)

Method: Wash and blend all ingredients. Place in a bowl and add items below.

Smoothie dressing;
I used organic sweet peppers, sliced.
Sprouted beans
Celery leaves
Vervain flowers.

Happy Raw Eating!
Leigh Lopez
The Belle Team ❤

❤ Raw Glow

Tuesday, 29 April 2014 / No Comments

I love raw soups! They are truly the comfort food of the raw world for me! Even on a cleanse you can still make raw soups with just a few modifications. If your recipe calls for cashews or other nuts or nut milk you would leave out the nuts and swap the nut milk for water or coconut water.

My lunch today;
8 oz. frozen raspberries (if you dont want to eat cold let raspberries thaw then blend)
1 large banana
2 medium oranges
3 large ribs of celery
1/2 cup cashews
Agave nectar to sweeten a bit.
Blend all ingredients to desired smoothness.

Garnish with Okra rings, flowers and herb or your choice.

Namaste

Leigh Lopez

The Belle Team ❤

❤ Making Noni Drink

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Noni is a fascinating plant, demanding of our respect. Its prolific beauty, bearing fruit year round...as if to say, "here I am, please use me." However, as you may already be aware, few of us are willing to make Noni's intimate acquaintance. The aroma of Noni fruit is truly bad. Some say "disgusting" or "horrid" or "stinks bad" or worse. And, it doesn't taste good either! Yet, it is well-known to be one of the main healers among the traditional Polynesian medicinal plants. It is said that this Noni is to be used when we are feeling really ill or really old.

The Noni fruit should be picked from wild tress called "Ovin" at its yellow stage. This is the critical picking period and very important as set down through generations from Tahitian Medicine Men. The correct time to pick the Noni is when it turns 100% yellow - this is called "Omoto." The fruit is then washed and placed to dry for five days to a week or more, until the fruit turns to mush. This fruit is then placed in drums and allowed to macerate (naturally pressed) for approximately 4 weeks into juice . It is these juices that are strained and filtered for use. This is the traditional method that allows the natural extraction of Noni Juice with all of the Noni fruits natural enzymes.

The recipe is a very simple one, combine all ingredients in vita mix and blend well.

1/2 cup Noni Juice
1 Young Coconut water and jelly
4 tablespoons virgin coconut oil
Agave Nectar to sweeten (if desired)

Namaste'

Leigh Lopez

The Belle Team ❤

❤ Tulsi Natural Toothpaste

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I just whipped up some toothpaste using bentonite clay, Tulsi, grapefruit seed extract, myrhh extract, baking soda, living water, probiotics, himalayan pink sea salt, coconut oil and fennel essential oil blend. Yummy!

Why natural toothpaste? Most commercial brands contain Fluoride, a toxic chemical that has not actually been shown to reduce tooth decay, and certainly not at the rate that a diet low in phytic acid can. Fluoride also has been linked to thyroid damage and hosts of other problems.

Like most commercial health and beauty products on the market, toothpaste has been industrialized over the years. Here are just a few of the questionable ingredients commonly found in commercial toothpastes:

The Case Against Fluoride: How Hazardous Waste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water and the Bad Science and Powerful Politics That Keep It ThereFluoride. While fluoride is supposedly the ingredient that prevents cavities, it doesn't do that job very well and can actually be very toxic to the body. In fact, if you suffer from acne outbreaks around the mouth and chin area, fluoride toothpaste may be the cause! (If you haven’t already, check out The Case Against Fluorideand The Fluoride Deception for more information.) Fluoride-free toothpastes are becoming more common, but unfortunately it’s not the only ingredient in toothpaste you should be avoiding.

Titanium dioxide. There are some concerns that titanium dioxide is carcinogenic. The biggest problem is that nano-sized particles of titanium dioxide can be absorbed through the mouth and may cause toxic damage in the cells of the body.

Glycerin. (man made). This is found in almost every toothpaste on the market (even the natural ones). Glycerin helps give toothpaste its pasty texture and keeps it from drying out. But it can also leave a coating on your teeth that prevents them from remineralizing.

Sodium lauryl sulfate. It gives you the foamy cleaning action we all expect from toothpaste, but sodium lauryl sulfate is also a strong chemical surfactant that doesn’t belong in our bodies.

Artificial sweeteners. I don’t know about you, but I generally avoid chemical sweeteners like sorbitol and saccharin. Unfortunately, these are commonly used in commercial toothpaste to make them taste sweet.

Leigh Lopez
Learn, Grow & Live passionately!
The Belle Team ❤

❤ Path To Success

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As a woman on the path to success we expect to feel a sense of achievement when we see that we have reached the top, where we wanted to be. How does it look from there? Will the world and people around you look beautiful? Will the journey to the top be pleasant and memorable? For so many women whom I have met this journey has certainly not been easy. It is not always a journey of mutual support, upliftment and friendliness. Instead, you have to be careful about who is conspiring to push you down. There are many challenges, not just due to gender bias, but also due to an unhealthy competition and jealousy from other women themselves! This kind of journey can be very stressful and takes its toll on our body and mind.

In this world where everyone’s lives are open for all to see through social networks, it’s easy to constantly compare yourself with your peers and competitors. While healthy competition is a good sign, blatant jealousy isn’t. For me, I focus on being my own competition. I compare my own past and try to get better every single day. It help's me become the best ME I can be without falling prey to petty jealousy.

However, what are the skills that we need to be able to do this and succeed? Read on and see if you agree with me.

Every year I do an exercise where I write out my perfect day. The other day, I looked back at what my ‘perfect day’ was 5 years ago. It was almost the exact opposite of what my vision of success is today.

Back then I wanted ease. I wanted no alarm clock, little work, and a life of luxury. What I've come to understand is that in creating the ability to have that life of luxury, I’ll have to go through my fair share of failures and struggles. Those failures and struggles are where I’ll develop into the woman I want to be, a success, and a better human being. Why, then, would I want to forgo that growth? Why, even if I'm able, would I reach my idea of success, and then simply stop my evolution by lulling in to a life of ease or a life of focusing on other people's short comings, or on conspiring to push other's down ?

Just because success is attained doesn't mean our growth as people, entrepreneurs, or leaders, comes to a halt. Look at Teddy Roosevelt. He never stopped achieving, accomplishing, and growing as an individual until the day he died. The same with Andrew Carnegie, and any other person in history who accomplished anything of great value.

So what do I do when I have to face one of life's challenges? Other than taking it to the mat, I go through my list of pointers I have for managing my life's challenges.

Commitment – One failure can lead to another success later.
Time – It is not sufficient to invest money to nurture or develop anything unless I give it my time.
Setting an Example – A successful woman doesn’t just show you the way; She walks the talk.
Team work – inspire participation and contribution.
Silence – Nurture quietude and calmness.
Reflection – Sit quietly at the end of the day, looking back at all the day’s activities, seeing where, if and how I made a difference. Reminding myself of the successes, as it can inspire me to do more.

So as I continue my life's' journey, I continue to celebrate my own achievements, however small they may be. I know Rome wasn't built in a day so I can't expect to build my success in a day. So I continue to be passionate about my life. I continue to love myself and respect my own life because I believe in my own capabilities. I understand there is a whole world of opportunities out there so I don't need to play petty girl games with anyone.

What you can do; start focusing on your lines, your brand, and living with integrity in your own life. Don't look to me as a yardstick for comparison, but as an instrument for inspiration – you might be surprised to find you have the same qualities within yourself.

Namaste
Leigh Lopez
The Belle Team ❤

❤ Making Coconut Ice

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Coconut has achieved the status of a superfood due to its high levels of vitamin C, electrolytes, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium and phosphorus.

Hydration is paramount in achieving great skin and due to the balance of minerals, coconut water is an ideal way to rehydrate. Coconut water also assists in alkalising the body and assists in the absorption of nutrients.

This is a great coconut treat for anyday of the year.

Vanilla Coconut Ice

INGREDIENTS:
2 Cups or 480g cashews
1 cup or 240ml of coconut water
1/2 cup or 120g of young coconut flesh (if unavailable use shredded coconut)
4 drops vanilla extract
1/2 cup or 120ml of raw honey or organic agave syrup
pinch of sea salt

METHOD:
Soak cashew nights overnight in filtered water (the longer the soaking time the creamier they will be).
Blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Place in a container and freeze. Once frozen, loosen from container by placing in warm water bath. Shave the frozen block into a bowl and consume. You can also add this as a base to any smoothie creation. This is a great healthy dessert for kids as well.

Namaste
Leigh Lopez
The Belle Team ❤

❤ Sprouting with Sattva

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Grow your own sprouts, it's so easy!

So why eat sprouts? Well, a healthy seed, once sprouted becomes a growing, live organism – no longer dormant – it activates different metabolic systems. Sprouts, in that moment of their life cycle, have a high level of vitality. They are packed with a high quantity of living enzymes, vitamins, minerals and proteins despite their tiny stature.

You’ll need:
-Large wide mouth mason jars
-Sprouting lids for jars ( but you can use cheesecloth and rubber bands over the top of the jars instead)
- Seeds, grains, nuts, or legumes (Do not sprout Kidney beans, lima beans, black beans

Let's get sprouting:
1) Put 1-2 Tablespoons of your sprout seeds in a jar.
2) Cover the with a cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band. Or screw on a sprouting lid with the smallest holes.
3) Cover seeds with at least an inch of water. Place jar in a dark place and let the seeds soak for 12 hours. (preferably before bed)
4) Rinse seeds two to three times a day. After rinsing, invert jar in a bowl at an angle to allow excess water to drain.
5) In a couple days, the seeds should begin to sprout. When they are sprouting, put them in a window sill to ensure they get some light (so they'll turn green!).
6) Remove hulls if needed. The Econo-Sprouter Topper has a lid with larger holes so you can rinse, shaking the jar, and allow the hulls to be rinsed away. If you're just using cloth, the hulls can be removed with a strainer or colander. But be sure to remove them, or they can get mouldy and ruin your sprouts.
7) Most sprouts should be ready within 4-6 days. Taste them to see if they are still bitter. If they are, add another day. When ready, rinse sprouts and cut off just what you need. The rest can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Happy sprouting!
Leigh Lopez

The Belle Team ❤

❤Making Infused Water

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I all to often hear of individuals drinking “natural” waters, infused with “fruit” and “vitamins” , or even flavor droppers. Have you ever read the nutrition labels or ingredient lists on any of these so called natural waters?

Most of them include a variety of preservatives, artificial sweeteners, added vitamins/minerals, artificial colorings (Red 40, Blue 1), sodium, sucralose, sucrose, dextrose, high fructose corn syrup, and refined sugar (gasp!). Leave the vitamin waters, sports drinks, and other “fruit” and “natural” flavoured “vitamin” waters on the grocery store shelves…it’s time to make our own!

Here is an easy formula for making your own quick, healthy fruit and herb infused waters in endless varieties. They look pretty with nothing artificial just the goodness of real foods, herbs, and spices.

Infused Water Ingredients:

Fruit ;
Citrus | grapefruit, lemon, lime, blood orange, orange, tangerines, sour lemon, portugal.
Berries | West Indian cherries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries.
Tropical | pomegranate, mango, pineapple, kiwi, starfruit, guavas, passion fruit, tamarind, mango. (no bananas)
Melons | honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon.
Other | apples, grapes, plums, peaches, nectarines.

Vegetables;
Veggies | cucumber, carrots, christophene, garlic, pumpkin, squash, tomato, sweet pepper,

Garden Herbs;
Herbs | mint, sage, rosemary, basil, cilantro, thyme, stevia, lavender, lemongrass (fevergrass),

Spices;
Spices | ginger, cinnamon stick (ground cinnamon will float), black pepper, anise.

Water
Water | coconut water, healthy, un-contaminated water.

Always experiment and have fun while blending choice of additives. Choose ingredients you enjoy and try new things you haven’t tried before.

Method;
First, simply add the fruit//vegetables in the glass first, use a wooden spoon to slightly mash and breakdown the fruit//vegetables. I love using a meat tenderizer, does the job just right for me.

Tip: peel the citrus fruits from their skin to avoid a bitter taste.

Next, simply take the herb//spice of choice and gently bruise the leaf (i.e. gently mashing), this helps release the natural extracts and oils from the herb//spice.

Lastly, add water and drink!

Storage;
These can be stored in air tight glasses, a glass pitcher, water bottle, gallon jug, etc. Whatever works for you. Best kept in the refrigerator for up to a week or until the flavor is no longer present.

Nutrition;
Since you’re not consuming the questionable ingredients above in most commercially bought vitamin waters, you’re receiving natural occurring vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Note, this is an INFUSION, not a juice. Therefore, with these Infused Waters the amount of sugar and calories is negligible; it’s called an infusion for a reason. You’re simply infusing the water with flavors and all natural nutrients from the fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Here are some of our fave water combo ideas;

Citrus Flavored Water.

1. Slice 1 orange, 1 lime, 1 lemon into rounds, then cut the rounds in half.

2. Add to jar, press and twist with the handle of a wooden spoon. Press enough to release some of the juices, but don't pulverize the fruit into pieces.

3. Fill the jar with ice, then add water to the top. Stir, cover, and refrigerate.

Guava & Lime Flavored Water.

1. Quarter 2 limes and squeeze the juice into the jar.

2. Throw in the squeezed lime quarters.

3. Add guava slices.

4. Press and twist with the handle of a wooden spoon to release some of the juices (don't pulverize the fruit).

5. Fill the jar with ice, then add water to the top. Stir, cover, and refrigerate.

Watermelon Mint Flavored Water

1. Add a sprig of mint to the jar

2. Crush the mint with your wooden spoon so you bruise the leaves and release their flavor (don't pulverize them into bits)

3. Add watermelon pieces, press and twist with the wooden spoon to release juices.

4. Fill the jar with ice, then add water to the top. Stir, cover, and refrigerate.

Watermelon Rosemary Flavored Water (this is one of my fave vitamin filled water)

1. Add a sprig of rosemary to jar crush gently

2. Add watermelon cubes; twist and press gently to release juices.

3. Fill the jar with ice, then add water to the top. Stir, cover, and refrigerate.

Sweeten it up if you have a sweet tooth with honey or organic agave syrup. Enjoy.

Namaste

Leigh Lopez
The Belle Team ❤

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