Provence herb sauce

1 cup of low fat yogurt

3 tablespoons of lime juice

1 table spoon of parsley- shopped

2 table spoon of ricotta cheese

1 table spoon of oregano

1 green onion

pinch celtic sea salt

Blend all together and serve it cold – easy!

It’s delicious on salads, flatbread or flax crackers.

Parsley and bulgur wheat chilli salad

125g bulgur wheat

2 unwaxed lemons

1x 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/3 large cucumber, peeled in strips and deseeded

2 large ripe tomatoes, quartered and roughly deseeded

A large bunch (arround80g) flat leaf parsley- stalks removed and leaves roughly chopped

2 fat cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 medium red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped

3 spring onions, sliced

75ml extra virgin olive oil

To prepare the bulgur simply place in a bowl and cover with boiling water, leaving it to soak for eight minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water, drain again making sure all the water possible is removed. Put it in a serving bowl.

Finely grate the�rind from one of the lemons and add to the bulgur. Squeeze both lemons and add all the juice, along with the chickpeas and seasoning to the bulgar.

Chop the cucumber and tomatoes into small cubes and mix it into the salad with the parsley. In a small bowl, mix the garlic, chilli and spring onion with the oil. Add to the salad and allow to stand for around 15 minutes, before mixing and serving.

Wholegrain Crepes

1 cup whole grain flour

1 � cup of water or low fat milk

� teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon canola oil or olive oil

In a medium sized bowl combine the flower, salt and water and mix well until it gets in a liquid and homogeneous state creating a batter. Heat the fry pan and grease lightly with oil. Pour in 3 tablespoon ( or 1 small ladle) of the crepe batter, rotate the pan to spread across the pan and make it even. Once small air bubbles come to the surface flip to cook the other side. Make as much crepes as you can. If you are having a hard time keeping the batter together, add 1 egg to the preparation to make the batter more workable for you.

Rule One: Balance Blood Sugar
The relationship between your blood sugar level and stress is a strong one. When your blood sugar levels drop too low stress hormones are released to stimulate the release of glucose into the blood stream. It’s best to eat small meals regularly to keep blood sugar levels balanced. It’s especially important to eat within an hour of waking as this makes a difference in your blood sugar response that lasts the whole day 

Make it happen: carry a small bag of nuts or low GI snack bar (such as naked bars) in your handbag to nibble on when you are caught out and haven’t eaten

Rule Two: Eat Well
Eating a clean diet is going to put your body in a much better state to deal with stress. Load up on vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and wholegrains to get your through the day. If you know you are going to eat out try to check the menu before and see what healthy options are on offer. Don’t be shy to ask for something bespoke.

Make it happen: Any restaurant can add a side of vegetables or brown rice.

Make it happen at home: Try and take a day off from Christmas socialising and prepare this nourishing soup from Dr James Wilson which is designed to nourish the glands that produce your stress hormones.

16 oz green beans

1 cup chopped celery

1 zucchini sliced

1 medium onion chopped

1 cup tomato juice

1 cup spring water

2 tbspn raw honey

1 tspn paprika

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

Combine ingredients and simmer for one hour until vegetables are tender. Add pepper to taste.

Rule Three: Easy On The Stimulants
As tempting as it may be to reach for yet another coffee to get you through the afternoon or a chocolate bar to see you through the 3pm slump these foods are going to do you no good in the long term. See them as nutritional “credit cards”. Yes they give you a feeling of increased energy, but this is borrowed from an energy bank that has to be paid back – with interest. you can run up an energy debt pretty quickly, leaving you feeling more tired and more dependent on stimulants to get you through the day. Try to realise what your true energy levels are so you don’t push yourself so much. This applies to alcohol too!

Make it happen: for a more gentle energy boost try yerba mate tea or matcha green tea.

Rule Four: Don’t Skip the Gym
Exercising is a great way to disperse any pent up emotions and release stress. Schedule in a yoga class too (spend extra time in savasana if possible!)

Make it happen: even with a 10 minute run you going to feel miles better.

Rule Five: Sleep!
Sleep is key to keeping stress levels in control. Without enough sleep your body is already physiologically in a state of stress, meaning that it doesn’t take much to tip you emotionally.

Make it happen: on the weekend try and sleep between 7am and 9am it’s thought that this is the most restorative time for the adrenal glands (where the stress hormones are produced).

Of course a great way to de-stress and get back to health is a retreat with us either on Ilha Grande, Costa Rica or Patagonia. We hope to see you soon.

So next time your at the famers market or supermarket be sure to pick up some apples.

Hyson DA. A Comprehensive Review of Apples and Apple Components and Their Relationship to Human Health. Adv. Nutr. 2: 408–420, 2011

always go organic when buying apples and spinach

Our trail on Lopes Mendes

If you have been on one of the TIEX retreats before walking barefoot along Lopes Mendes beach probably a memory stuck in your mind. The warm sand squishing between your toes – feels so good!! It’s usual now to spend most of the day with shoes on, but this means we are less connected with the earths natural electrical field.

There are numerous studies now looking at how walking barefoot can improve health. The theory is that the earths surface contains free electrons which conduct through our skin

If it’s a little chilly where you are to be walking barefoot come and put your feet on the ground with us at TIEX.

Miso is made from fermented soya beans. This is the best way to include soy in your diet and how it has been traditionally consumed for thousands of years. The fermentation process helps break down the protein the soy contains and aids in the digestive process as well as helping to feed the good bacteria in the gut.

Whilst you can buy packet miso soup but this version is so easy to make, with no unwanted extras.

Vegetable miso Soup

2 cups diced sweet potato or yam

2 cups diced carrot

½ cup chopped onion

1 cup green bean

2 cups cabbage in strips

2 tablespoon parsley

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 tablespoon canola oil

½ tablespoon of miso dissolved in ½ cup of water

In a big pot, use the oil to sauté the onion. Add the sweet potato, yam, carrot and green bean. Add some water and salt and stir. Let it boil until the vegetables are cooked. Add the cabbage and the parsley and let it cook. Turn off the stove and add the water with miso. Stir it well and serve it warm.

PS. Miso is a soy complement rich in protein that helps the digestive action and detoxification. To protect the medicinal and nutritive proprieties of miso, we shouldn’t cook it. So it has to be added after turning off the stove.

A new study released looked at 2 different dieting options for those trying to loose weight. Option one included eating regular portions of pulses (five cups/week over 8 weeks) of pulses (yellow peas, chickpeas, navy beans and lentils), or option 2 was a regular diet but with 500 calories less.

You may be surprised by the results, but the group eating the pulses lost more weight! The researchers proposed this is because the pulse diet reduced insulin levels significantly compared to the low calorie diet. (Insulin is one of the bodies storage hormones).
Nothing is more satisfying that a lovely lentil soup, or dahl on a cold winters night. Or home made healthy beans on toast. Try cooking your own beans from scratch and add Adriana’s tomato and basil sauce – serve on toasted wholegrain bread.So this is great news especially coming into the colder months.

Mollard RC, Luhovyy BL, Panahi S, Nunez M, Hanley A, Anderson GH. Regular consumption of pulses for 8 weeks reduces metabolic syndrome risk factors in overweight and obese adults. Br J Nutr. 2012 Aug;108 Suppl 1:S111-22.

Shiitake with soy sauce

150 g onion

2 cloves of garlic

20 g fresh ginger

5 tablespoon olive oil

150 ml soy sauce

500 g shitake mushroom

100 g red and yellow pepper

150g tofu

Sauté garlic, onion, and ginger in 2 tbsp of olive oil until golden. Add 2 tbsp of soy sauce and let it boil for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms, soy sauce and let it boil in medium heat for 5 min. Add red and yellow pepper, 60 ml of water, let it boil for 5 min more or until it gets tender. When it’s almost done, add the tofu in cubes and let it cook for 2 minutes more.

Top tip: Use the light version of soy sauce. It contains less salt and it’s easier to cook.