Health on a Plate 2015

If you could eat the healthiest meal, what would it be?   A bowl of green gazpacho, a freshly made salad with organic leaves picked from your garden, a fat-free Portobello mushroom burger,  a fruit filled sugar-free dessert?  I'm sure each one of us would come up with a different dish - and why not?   The options are endless and eating well has never been easier or more exciting!  

I'm particularly thrilled to see so many young people these days getting interested in naturally healthy foods. With so many bright, talented food writers and bloggers spreading the word and offering inspiration and encouragement,  there has never been a better time to eat healthily. At last, taking care of our bodies is trendy!  Gone are the days when we were considered cranky odd bods who ate nut roasts and lived on salad leaves!

With more and more people diagnosed with food intolerances and allergies too,  interest in foods free from dairy, gluten and sugar is at an all time high.  The good news is that whatever your reason for trying these foods, your body is likely to benefit in all sorts of ways.  You may feel lighter or have more energy, your digestion may improve, you may even sleep better or feel more relaxed but I can guarantee you will feel better!

On all the courses I have taught at Bodnant,  it's sitting around the big wooden table together for lunch that has been a real highlight for me.  It's here that people relax after a busy morning in the kitchen and discover shared interests, new tastes and different flavours.  Eating a meal of purely plant-based foods for the first time can be a revelation. People are often surprised how filling the dishes are and how deeply satisfying it is to make your own food from scratch, using simple fresh ingredients.

Once again this year,  I'll be running a one-day course at Bodnant Cookery School called "Health on a Plate."  With a set of brand new recipes I've developed specially for this year's course,  it will be a full day focusing on the best of healthy eating.  As always, the day will be practical and very hands-on. You will be cooking and preparing food all day and receive lots of help and advice, plus you will have some wonderful food to take home too!

The course is on Sunday, 16th August from 11am to 4pm.  I do hope you'll be able to come and you will find all the details on the Bodnant website.  

Here are some more of the photos from my last course in April.

 

Lighten Up for Summer

On Sunday 26th April, I'll be at Bodnant Cookery School running a course called "Lighten Up for Summer."  Last year's course was a popular one and,  once again, I'm looking forward to creating dishes that are designed to make us feel brighter and lighter for summer. Recently I've been working on a brand new batch of exciting recipes with exactly that in mind.

Most people know that what we eat and drink can directly impact our body.   Too many processed foods, saturated fats, sugar and alcohol can leave us feeling bloated, heavy and lethargic - hardly the way we want feel in the midst of summer!  So now's the time to give our body all the good things to make us look and feel amazing when the warmer weather arrives.

   Lighter, Healthier and Delicious!

I gave up eating meat and animal products a long time ago - thirty five years to be exact - and have never regretted my decision.  I've had plenty of time to learn how to make meals that are both healthy and delicious AND reap the benefit. Thankfully it's much easier these days to enjoy a healthier, more plant-based diet - without being considered the least bit cranky either. In fact, it's actually quite trendy to eat this way now! 

Just recently, Ella Woodward's first book, Deliciously Ella,  became the fastest selling debut cookbook in the UK and it's completely free from meat, eggs, dairy and refined sugar!  The story of how she overcame a serious illness that kept her bedridden by simply changing her diet is inspiring and exciting and gives hope to anyone struggling to cope in similar circumstances. She admits that before her life-changing decision, she wasn't a cook, rarely ate any fresh fruit or vegetables and was a total sugar addict!

Ella is a wonderful advertisement for healthy eating and absolutely glows with vitality.  But we don't have to be ill, unfit or overweight to make healthy changes to our diet though sometimes this can give us just the incentive we need.  Everyone can look and feel better when they decide to eat their way to good health and vitality! 

Creative Cooking with Fresh Ingredients

With the days growing longer and sunnier, now is the perfect time to start planning a healthier diet and lifestyle to take you into summer.  Even doing just one thing differently today can make all the difference to your well-being this summer, whether it's going for a weekly swim at your local pool, taking the dog for a longer walk (which I'm sure he'll love!) or,  better still,  trying out a new recipe!

Having like-minded people around you can make such a difference when you're starting something new.  I've been delighted to meet the lovely people who come along to my cookery days.  For some, it's their first time. For others it's their second or third time! And everyone says how much fun it is, cooking together, learning new skills, being introduced to different ingredients and flavours and chatting with each over over lunch in the amazing dining room that overlooks the Conwy Valley.

New Year Detox    January 2015

I've been thrilled at the growing interest in my "Simple and Natural" courses.   The last one in January was sold out two weeks before the actual day so, if you are thinking of coming in April, don't leave it too late to book.  Numbers are strictly limited to 12 people and quite a few places have already been taken.

Simple and Natural - Lighten Up for Summer

Sunday 26th April, 2015         10.30 am - 4 pm 

£95.00 (same price as last year!) inc all ingredients and lunch

Further details can be found on the Bodnant website here

Making Healthy Eating Fun for Children

 

Just to let you know that this coming weekend, 16th and 17th August,  I'll be running some short cookery workshops for children.  Bodnant Welsh Foods Centre in the Conwy Valley are holding their annual Children's Food Festival with lots of events happening on both days and I'm really thrilled to be involved this year.

The focus of my 30 minute workshops, which will be in the main courtyard (under cover!) at 12 noon and 2 pm on Saturday and Sunday, is on having fun and being creative with fresh, healthy natural ingredients.   In the morning session at 12, we'll be making a simple tasty idea for lunch whilst at 2 pm, something sweeter and fruitier will be on the menu, even though absolutely no sugar or dairy will be involved!

If you know any children who love trying something new or who already enjoy helping out in the kitchen, then do bring them along.   You'll need to book their place on the workshops as numbers are limited and there will probably be a small charge (£2 I think, but do check!) 

If you just fancy coming along,  the Welsh Foods Centre is a fabulous place for a day out and is in an amazing location along the Conwy Estuary.  The Festival starts at 11 pm on Saturday and Sunday and finishes at 4pm.  Here are all the details. 

And if you are there, do come and say hello!

 

Detoxing with a Difference!

Here we are tucking into lunch on my New Year Detox Cookery Course held at Bodnant in January, where we had a fabulous day making raw and cooked dishes using fresh, organic detox-friendly ingredients.  As you can see, detoxing doesn't have to mean going hungry! Here are some of the comments: 

"A really fabulous day with Rhona. Great to use only the freshest produce to make some truly delicious detox dishes."

"Lovely day, lots of interesting dishes. Thank you Rhona"

"Super day, made healthy eating fun.   Wonderful food, thank you Rhona."

"A fantastic day from start to finish. Delicious recipes and lots of great new ideas. Thoroughly enjoyable, thank you."

"Great Day. Would like to do many more classes. Thanks for a good day!"

 

There are so many weird and wonderful ideas circulating about detoxing.  To me, it's simply about cleansing and nourishing the body from the inside by eating fresh ingredients as close to their natural state as possible.  It also means eliminating the foods that clog up our bodies, take a long time to digest and deplete our immune system.

I stopped eating meat, eggs and dairy over 30 years ago because I believed it was better for my health.  During that time I've been growing and eating my own organic fruit and vegetables too. Over the years, I've learned how my body feels when I'm eating the right food for me and some may say I pretty much eat a detox diet most days of the year! 

Even though this was a "detox" course,  I still chose recipes that the whole family would enjoy, that didn't need any special equipment and, most of all, were delicious to eat and full of flavour and natural goodness.  My inspiration came from the ancient traditions of Japan and India where they have been detoxifying the body for centuries.   I also incorporated a few 21st century ideas on eating raw and hopefully inspired a few people to enjoy eating "free from" more often!

The day started at 10am with a welcome drink.  The freshly made cup of root ginger and lemon tea went down well, so much so that everyone asked for seconds!  The creamy cashew dip with apple slices was popular too! 

The first dish we made together was a colourful quinoa salad, filled with roasted butternut squash, red onions, red and yellow peppers and fresh rocket leaves. Then we made a blended pate with mushrooms, onions, walnuts and thyme. 

After a fresh juice break,  I demonstrated how to make a healthy miso soup using freshly made vegetable stock, dried wakame, rice noodles, an assortment of vegetables and flavoured with fresh root ginger and two sorts of miso. 

In Japan, having a bowl of miso soup every day has long been associated with health and vitality and research has certainly proved that it is beneficial in strengthening our immune system. After a warming bowl of soup for lunch, there were more healthy dishes to enjoy including a variety of fresh salads, spelt bread and some raw and roasted vegetable dips I'd made in advance. 

In the afternoon, we made some of my favourite recipes - a Moroccan Carrot and Orange Salad with dates and toasted cashews, then Aloo Gobi - a spicy Indian cauliflower and potato dish.  Our final recipe was Vanilla Cashew Cream with fresh fruit kebabs.

At the end of the day, when all of the prepared dishes were packed away to take home and enjoy later, I had one final treat for everyone - some home made raw cacao bites and sugar free fruit flapjacks!

Since the course, it's been great hearing from those of you who came and how you've enjoyed making the recipes again at home.  Even the detox drinks have become a daily habit for some which is brilliant! 

Of course, it's how our bodies feel at the end of it that matters and my next course at Bodnant is all about feeling good and feeling lighter!

Lighten Up for Summer -  Saturday 26th April 2014

Just after the Easter break and with the summer holidays looming on the horizon, this will be the perfect time to be more health conscious if you want to look and feel good when the warmer weather arrives!

The good news is that during the summer months, it's often easier to include lighter, healthier plant-based meals in your daily diet that will cleanse and lighten your body naturally and lift your energy too.

On the course,  I'll be showing you how to prepare high quality raw and cooked dishes that are packed full of goodness and will leave you feeling lighter and with a renewed sense of well-being.

 

Lighten Up For Summer is on:-

Date:   Saturday, 26th April 2014       

Time:   11:00am - 4:00pm        

Price:   £95.00 inc lunch and all ingredients

With lots of practical advice and simple guidelines to follow, together with some new exciting recipes to help you create a healthy body you'll be proud of, this will be a day you definitely won't want to miss!

To book your place,  go to the Bodnant Cookery School website or phone 01492 651108.

Hope to see you there!