All Things Hunter Valley

I have just spent the last 3 days guest presenting at the Golden Door Health Retreat in the beautiful Hunter Valley. I love to go there as it is a place where people transform and achieve huge goals. My role this week was to take the guests through a series of seminars and a cooking class. The focus was weight loss and how to achieve a healthy state of being. I just love this kind of work and my mission is always to inspire people to achieve an incredible level of health and wellbeing and I was in the perfect place for this!

I regularly guest present at this gorgeous retreat and every time I have this experience I love it. The surroundings are rolling hills covered in vineyards. As I look out my window in the morning I can see hot air balloons slowly rising. I was blessed with a Leo full moon and I spent a good hour at the top of meditation hill soaking up the moon rays. It felt exquisite and I was so full of energy that I spent the next 5 hours writing!

So if you can take a week away from your life and want to transform your current situation make a trip to the Golden Door. The crew they have are highly trained and they have hand picked the best from every occupation and therapy. There are links below to my various activities from the last few days. If you want more information about what to expect simply email me through my website.

I am in the process of organising a 5 day Female Health retreat for January 2011 so let me know what you would be interested in learning. This is an amazing opportunity for me and I would love to see you there. Cooking classes, seminars and one on one consultations are just the beginning!

While I was there, I picked up a copy of Michael Hallock’s amazing CD called “Aaah Inspiring Meditation”. We talked about this 2 years ago and I am so proud of him reaching his goal. I love his cd - incredibly soothing and the perfect tool for anyone who is stressed and feeling frazzled. You can buy a copy here.

I visited Michael recently on my trip to Bali. He is helping set up the most amazing retreat I have ever laid eyes on. It is in Ubud and I really cant express how incredible it is. it has just opened and you can read more about it here.

I am sure that I will be back to Five Elements and look forward to a regular visit to such a special place.

I am off to Thailand tomorrow to conduct some research that I will tell you about soon. In the meantime keep warm and infection free by reading my tips. In case you are wondering about my photo, Tamburlaine winery is an organic winery that I always visit when in the Hunter. To my delight, they have just released an organic Blanc de Blanc - now that makes me happy!

View from Meditation Hill

Check out the view from cooking class!

Executive chef Mark and I with my Detoxification Salad

Executive chef Mark in action

Herb of the Week - Nettle

Miso and Nettle Soup

I adore fresh nettle and have been lucky enough to get my hands on some organic varieties. Just remember to wear gloves as it can give you a mild rash or hives temporarily. Nettle is an incredibly powerful herb and I use it for pregnancy as it is so rich in nutrients. It's also used for hay fever, dermatitis, arthritis and blood noses.

I made some lovely nettle and goats cheese frittatas as my snack at work last week and this week I have made a quick soup.

Ingredients
1 litre water
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 leek, cut in 1 cm rings
2 Tbs quinoa
2 Tbs miso, dissolved in a bit of water
4 Tbs nettle leaves finely chopped
Servings: 6

The nettle tops should be harvested early in spring when they are still very small (about 5 cm). Only use the small unfolded top leaves.

Put carrots, onion, leek and quinoa in water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 30 min until tapioca is clear and soup is slightly thickened. Stir from time to time to prevent the tapioca from burning. Add the miso and mix to dissolve. Add the chopped nettle leaves and only bring to boiling point. Don't boil to preserve the vitamins. Serve the miso soup immediately