A question from Instagram follower @mischiwest: " How does a vegetarian go for protein??? Cheese is high in fat and so are nuts.  However I do eat fish..."

Protein is macro nutrient that is ESSENTIAL to life.   Protein is made up of a bunch of amino acids. There are 9 amino acids that are essential- as in, they need to be eaten in the diet.   They are phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, and histidine.
Then there are 5 dispensable amino acids,  alanine, aspartic acid, asparagine, glutamic acid and serine- they can be made by the body out of the other amino acids (but remember if you aren't getting them in your diet, you are depleting your essential amino acids by making them).
Then there are 6 conditional amino acids- as in, they can be made by the body, as long as the conditions are right and co-factors are present.   These six are arginine, cysteine, glycine, glutamine, proline and tyrosine.

All these amino acids can be found in plant foods, but you need to make sure that you are getting the full complement of amino acids when eating a vegetarian and particularly a vegan diet.  If you are lacking in some of the amino acids your body won't be able to function properly, because every function that occurs in the body relies on protein and protein is made up of a bunch of amino acids bonded to each other.  If one of the amino acids is lacking then the chain is broken and the protein molecule can't be formed.  If you are lacking in protein molecules your health will suffer -big time!  

It's important- in fact I think it is your responsibility as a vegetarian or vegan- to understand where you are going to get your full complement of amino acids from.  
​You don't need to combine foods to get them all in one meal, but you do need to plan so you are getting a full complement each day.

The general rule of thumb here is that you need 1 gm of crude protein per kg of body weight and more if you are exercising.  So let's say you are a 70kg person, you will need at least 70kg of crude protein per day.  Say you go for a daily run, then your protein need increases, depending on your level of exertion your may need 1.5-2g of protein per kg of body weight = 120-140g of crude protein per day.

Okay, so here is the answer to answer your question Mischi.  Firstly I would say: don't think about the fat! The issue that I see with a lot of vegetarian diets is that they are so high in carbohydrates. That may be fine for the genetic type that can run on a high carbohydrate load, but many people are carbohydrate intolerant and their body will run much better with low carbohydrates, burning fat for fuel instead.
 
Frankly, vegetarians can't afford to be filling up on carbs; you need to focus on what protein value your food is giving you and making sure that you are getting your full compliment of amino acids. Don't worry about the fat, it's the protein : carb ratio that you need to look at. 
The best source of low carb high protein plant based foods are nuts and seeds.  You can increase the bio availability of the protein in nuts and seeds by soaking them overnight in filtered water and a dash of apple cider vinegar (known as activating).  Most nuts and seeds have a value of 20-30gm of crude protein per 100gm.  Except for macadamia's and pecans which come in at about 10g/100g.
Seeds such as Flaxseed and Chia have the added value of giving you essential fatty acids (something that you also may lack as a vegetarian).

My next pick would be tofu.  Tofu has no carbohydrates or fat and comes in at about 15-20g of crude protein per 100gm. You may easily eat 200gm in a meal giving you 30-40g of protein.

Lastly comes the legumes (beans) coming in at about 5-10g/100g. The problem with beans is that they are high in carbohydrates about 60g/100g and then many people will eat them with a grain, like rice, even brown rice is 45g of carbohydrate per cup.  So really what you are getting with legumes are a lot of carbs and not much protein.  The best way to get protein value out of legumes is to sprout them, the sprouting process uses up a lot of the carbohydrates and leaves you with a protein rich vegetable. Sprouted legumes 13g/100g.
I am not saying don't eat legumes, but don't rely on them as your daily protein source and remember that they are carbohydrate rich so if your having a bean curry eat it with a high protein/low carb grain such as quinoa 4-5g/100g.

​Then there are the incidental proteins that come from eating a  variety of vegetables.  The best vegetables for protein are kale 4.3g/100g, broccoli 3.8/100gm, mushrooms 3.6g/100g. 

Let's have a look at a what a high protein vegetarian meal might look like:  tofu steak (200g=35g), with stir-fry of mushrooms, kale, broccoli (150g=6g) on a bed of cooked quinoa (1/2 cup = 4g) , with a topping of sprouted lentils (50g=7g).  This particular meal gives you a total protein value of about 52g and will only be around 20g of carbohydrates.  

The last thing that I want to mention is protein powder.  Protein powder is a good way to top up on protein.  Their are some good vegetarian/vegan protein powders out there and they are a worthwhile way to make sure that you are getting your daily protein.  

Thanks for your question Mischi, I really hope that this has helped.

Let me know what you think

X Melanie

Ok, let's talk about Green Smoothies.  I am a big fan, but there are some do's and don'ts to getting the most out of your smoothie and harnessing your healthy eating intentions to their full potential.

The following is a list do's and don'ts of green smoothie making to help you avoid DSAS- Disappointed Smoothie Aversion Syndrome

Do:

• Add a good amount of greens to your smoothie (about 2 cups)
• Put your greens at the bottom of your blender to get a good smooth consistency.  Some people blend the greens with the fluid base before adding the fruit to make sure the greens get chopped up well
• Blend your smoothie until it reaches a nice smooth texture (hence the name- we're not making lumpies here people!)
• Chop up fruit and keep it in a container ready to go for convenience
• Freeze fruit to add a nice chill to your smoothie
• Add a smidge of banana or avocado for a creamy texture
• Add a good protein source such as nuts, seeds, or protein powder
• Add a good source of fibre, such as ground linseeds, chia, or psyllium husk
• Play with flavours that your love
• Have an idea of your smoothie combo and what will work before you start to avoid disappointment
• Try to use organically grown food as much as possible and wash all fruit before blending

Don't

• Use too much raw kale or raw brassica's.  Raw kale dampens thyroid function, so unless that is your desired effect, go easy on the kale and use other green leafy's
• Use too much fruit.  If your smoothie is too fruity it will spike your blood sugars and you will end up feeling hungry 1/2 and hour after your smoothie

Still not convinced about the Green Revolution?
​
Here are 5 reasons why you should be adding a Green Smoothie to your day

1. Alkalizing: Green Leafy's are alkalizing. Alkaline foods assist in down regulating inflammation and pain and assist in preventing chronic disease.
2. Nutritious: Green Leafy's are full of amino acids (protein), vitamins, minerals and antioxidants
3. Gut Healing: Spinach is very high in the gut healing amino acid, Glutamine.  Green smoothies are an excellent source of daily fibre for bowel health
4. Convenient: Green smoothies are a fantastic breakfast for busy people.  You can sip your green smoothie while you are putting pig tails in your kids hair or while on route to the office
5. Tasty: I concede that it's hard to make a green smoothie look good on Instagram, but it's not hard to make them taste delicious.

Getting the picture??

Ok, so are you ready to give yourself the goodness of GREEN?

Here are some basics for your blend
​
2 Cups- Baby spinach (good for beginners), parsley, dandelion greens or lettuce​
1 Cup- Flavoursome fruit: berries, mango, melon...ect
1/4- Banana or avocado for creaminess
1 tbs- of ground linseeds or chia seeds
1 tbs- protein powder or nut butter or coconut paste
2 Cups- Filtered water or nutmilk 
1-2 tsp- Superfood powder of your choice; matcha, macca, acia, camu camu...ect

Happy Blending Beautiful Buds 
​X Melanie

As you can guess, I 'aint no food styler.....  

What I try to do is bring to you snippets of stuff that inspires me and makes me feel good in the hope that it'll do the same for you.  
Quite honestly I don't have time to scatter micro basil leaves or arrange a linen tea towel lovingly under the plate....not that there is anything wrong with that!  It's just that I'd be hard pressed even finding a tea towel that wasn't stained or frayed in my kitchen.  And quite honestly, it's hard enough grabbing a picture of this stuff before it is devoured!  

But I'm not going to let that stop me from bringing some deliciousness into your kitchen.  

My eldest daughter works at a news agency and every second month I am salivating at her waiting for the next edition of Nourish Magazine to come out.   It's my fave magazine at the moment  it's always full of inspiring and delicious recipes. 

So anyhooo... this cake is inspired by a  Raw white chocolate & raspberry slice by Sally O'Neil (@thefitfoodieblog) that appeared in the latest copy of Nourish.

I made this cake one sunny Saturday afternoon after a busy day cleaning the house and spending quality time with the kids; as in taking my eldest to and from work, and a beach crawl with the two younger ones (just like a pub crawl only with beaches).

Base 
1 cup of organic almonds
1 cup of organic desiccated coconut
8 mejool dates

Blend this up in your food processor and squash it in to line the bottom of a pie mold.  Put this in the freezer or fridge to chill.

Filling
2 cups of soaked organic cashews (soak the night before in filtered water)
1 cup of frozen raspberries
1/2-2/3 cup of creamed coconut (I mean the hard stuff in the jar not coconut cream in a can) 
2 tbs of maple syrup
handful of coconut chips to sprinkle on top

Put jar of creamed coconut in a bowl of hot water to melt.  Lay the raspberries out on a tray lined with baking paper and drizzle the creamed coconut over them until the raspberries are covered.  Put this in the freezer.  
Put cashews and maple syrup in to food processor and blend until creamy and smooth.  Get the coconut covered raspberries out of the freezer and break them up.  Carefully stir the raspberries through the cashew cream (try and do it a bit more carefully than me, or you'll end up with a messy looking cake: see above).  
Spread filling on to base.  Refrigerate until you can't stand it any more and then have a piece.

If you divide the cake into 16 pieces each piece has just over 9g of carbohydrates. (for those of you that need to count that kind of thing!)

Do enjoy, my lovelies, my pretties, my precious-es,

​Melanie