Michelle's Marmalade

Large nectarines, oranges and lemons were in my fridge they smelt amazingly fragrant and with cravings for something sweet i decided to make marmalade. My recipe is so quick and easy. It can be doubled or tripled depending on how much you want to make.

Michelle's Marmalade
Makes 2 x 400g jars
1 nectarine or peach
1 orange
2 lemons
2 cups sugar
1. Wash fruit and cut in half or quarters, remove seeds and discard, then thinly slice citrus and roughly chop nectarine flesh (discard stone).
2. Place all fruit into a large saucepan with 1 litre water and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 30 minutes until fruit is soft. Add sugar and stir well. Brush sides of saucepan with a wet pastry brush to remove any excess sugar or fruit. Place a small heat proof plate in freezer. Bring fruit and sugar mixture to boil, then reduce to a simmer and continue to cook until it turns a dark amber colour and mixture should be thick and sticky taking about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove plate from freezer and spoon a tablespoonful marmalade onto cold plate, wait a minute then using spoon push marmalade on plate and it should be set, if runny continue to cook until ready, checking if set regularly.
4. Once ready remove from heat and spoon hot marmalade in two clean jars and top with lids. Turn jam jars upside down once then back again just to heat lid. Allow to cool.

Now, immediately after i had made this marmalade i toasted a slice organic rye sourdough and spread with butter and topped with spoonfuls of marmalade - it was a instant fix to my sweet cravings and it tasted absolutely delicious.

The next day i had a naturopath session with Emma and took her a jar of my marmalade. We mentioned that she only had a couple of days to go on her detox and what a yummy treat to give herself would be to spoon a few tablespoons marmalade in 1 cup softened vanilla ice cream mixing well and refreeze. Spoon into chilled glasses and eat immediately - it's amazing!

Eat Marmalade within 5-7 days. Store in Fridge.

Words and Picture By Michelle Thrift Copyright 2010

Day 26 of Detox

My little gorgeous niece has learnt how to crawl! I am planning on popping in for a demonstration on the way to clinic so will add a photo of her in action. My brother has been frantically coordinating the expansion of his physiotherapy business. He has relocated to huge premises and is opening on Monday. I will be practising there and also running my HypnoBirthing classes weekly. I am very excited about this as I know he will create an awesome space with a lot of great energy.

I stayed up till 1am working, as did my cat Simba (see picture), so I slept until my book keeper phoned at 9am! I haven’t slept in that late for ages but I must have needed a catch up.

Apparently it is going to be filthy hot this weekend and I have a Reiki course all day tomorrow so I won’t be able to go to Bondi early morning for my swim. As I missed the gym this morning, I will go for a swim at Golden Door when I arrive tomorrow night.

Breakfast was cereal, fruit and yoghurt – for some reason on this detox I haven’t been eating many eggs. I could make frittata for lunch or dinner quite easily as it is a great protein source but eggs don’t appeal at the moment. Lunch was left over salad from dinner which I snacked on between seeing patients.

I had a social outing this evening which is probably the first big one for 3 weeks. I felt good about it before I went – I am not tempted by alcohol or bad food. The only thing I was concerned about were the options available for dinner! I have generally found that most restaurants and pubs can serve a piece of grilled fish with salad or vegetables. I always ask for dressing on the side and no sauce on the fish, just a lemon wedge. As far as drinks go I have mineral water with fresh lemon or lime - that is easy to access.

Did I tell you that my tomato plants have shrivelled up? I am trying to revive them but it is looking grim. I rang my grandma to ask for some emergency tips but she didn’t have any new ones for me.

Tomorrow I have my Reiki course so that should be great. I am curious as to how I will find it – I am not into fluffy stuff and while I am a big believer in energetic systems (think chakras, chi, prana etc) I need the scientific side as well. Will let you know how I go!

Day 25 of Detox

I woke early to go to the gym and felt rather tired for the first time in weeks. I did my cardio which all seemed very difficult and my time on the rower was 10minutes, 48 seconds, which as you know, was not great. Then I realised that I had my period – oh, it all clicks into place now!

Day 23 was a shocker for me – unorganised, cranky, I think I cried 3 times in that day and I was so irritated. You know what makes me chuckle quietly? It’s the fact that every time I get my period I have an “ahaa!” moment, like it is so unexpected! I can hear the mental process now “so that explains why I felt so emotional, tired, irrational etc”. It occurs every month but each month it still comes as a surprise. So anyway, I left the gym and came home to do a 20 minute express Pilates DVD (love these when I am feeling lazy) and have a nice breakfast of gluten free cereal, white peach and apple juice.

I made a smoothie to take to clinic – a banana, 2 passion fruits, frozen berries, oat milk, flaxseed oil and probiotic. I then had my last watercress soup from the freezer and I had forgotten how nutritious it is. It is packed with antioxidants, minerals and especially iron which I really need right now. I can feel the goodness seeping into my cells! Todays photo is my soup.

Dinner was stunning red snapper fillets, which are perfect on the BBQ. Ensure you have a really hot surface, a little olive oil, put the fish skin side up and sear the surface, turn it over just briefly then turn it back again, put the lid down on the BBQ and let it cook for approximately 3 minutes. Then I always like to let the fish rest for a few minutes while I dress the salads so that it becomes really tender.

Today I bought a quick slice mandolin!!! This is a kitchen implement that very thinly slices vegetables. I love this so much it is geeky! So I made one salad with red cabbage and a dressing of red wine vinegar, EVOO, salt and pepper. I aimed to just let the red cabbage shine as it was a perfect specimen. The other salad contained mixed lettuce, carrot, cucumber, avocado, snow peas and sugar snap peas.

Day 24 of Detox

I had a crazy day in clinic today – even my 15 minutes breaks ended up being used for acute phone consults! So it is late and I have just finished writing reports to GPs and psychologists – not my favourite part of being a naturopath but a necessary one.

I used about 6 lychees with my cereal this morning along with a kiwi and it was a taste bud sensation. I took left over salad of rocket, sugar snaps, cucumber and avocado for my mid morning snack. All my friends laugh at me as they know that I often eat left over salad before I go to the gym in the morning. It started when I was younger – I have always enjoyed making salads but I always made so much that we never ate it all at dinner.

So I would stand with the fridge door open in the morning pondering what to eat for breakfast and the salad would just scream out to me “EAT ME!!!” So I did. I then began researching what traditional cultures ate in the morning and I discovered that the cereal and toast phenomenon was a relatively recent invention. In China they eat congee, in Japan it’s miso, in Greece it’s fetta, olives with coffee etc. So our Western version of toast and jam or cereal with milk is what we feel we are supposed to eat, but is it really the best start to the day? Why can’t breakfast be savoury and more substantial? Have you ever heard of the expression “eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner”? So, if you are getting bored with your breakfasts, think outside the square and choose a savoury dish instead.

Lunch today was a Pitango lentil soup – I am in love with this company as they are certified organic, family run and have lots of different meals to choose from. I often have their take home meals in the freezer for emergencies. Dinner was red quinoa with lemon zest and extra virgin olive oil with broccoli, zucchini and tuna.

Today's photo is of Kale - my absolute favorite detox food. I have just met the farmer who grows the most amazing varieties of kale - 15 in fact! I will blog about it soon but in the meantime, buy some and know that as you eat it your liver is kicking up it's heels and dancing for joy!

Day 23 of Detox

Well, at least I woke up nice and early due to going to bed at a reasonable time for a change. The gym was not as busy and I felt great by the time I was stretching an hour later. Today’s breakfast was muesli, sheep’s milk yoghurt and half a dozen lychees. I love this fruit and just devour them when they are in season.

I then went for “coffee” and made the radical decision to have a soy chai latte. Well, never again! It was just like drinking hot milk and did not appeal to me at all. One thing that you need to ask if you are ordering chai is “do you use syrup or do you brew the herbs to order?” I kept having women complain to me that they couldn’t lose weight even though they were taking their herbs and supplements, exercising and eating well. After some investigation work it turned out that this subset of patients were all drinking soy chai lattes! If the syrup is used then this drink is high in calories, about 250 per cup, which takes quite a while to burn off at the gym. So, now I ask them to avoid this drink completely and stick to my herbal tea instead as it contains a little ginger which supports a healthy metabolism.

IKU provided a lovely lunch – I adore their cabbage and beetroot salad as just looking at it makes me feel healthy. I then had ocean trout and yellow fin tuna with salad for dinner. Now, a little about yellow fin tuna – this is a smaller, faster growing species than the blue fin tuna. Hence it is a far more sustainable choice to make as you:

1. Will not be ingesting heavy metals such as methyl mercury
2. Will not be adding to an overfished situation of blue fin tuna

Day 22 of Detox

I woke early to fit in a 20 minutes spa and a 20 minutes steam session. In the spa I aim the jets at any wobbly bits and make my plans for the week. In the steam room I do my meditation – that is called multi tasking! I am not too sore after my big cardio session yesterday but I think that is due to the Epsom salt bath last night. Being high in magnesium Epsom salts relax muscles as well as reducing lactic acid build up.

I had fruit, sheep’s milk yoghurt and LSA for breakfast followed by a mid morning smoothie of berries, banana and soy milk. Lunch consisted of a beautiful quiche with fetta, spinach, cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs. As this dish is so high in protein it keeps me feeling full for ages which is unusual for me. At 6pm when I finished I jumped in the car and drove home from the Hunter, spending the driving time to return phone calls.

I am rather excited as I need to book plane tickets to Thailand for August – I haven’t had a holiday for over 2 years so I am dying for some sun and relaxation. I can imagine now, afternoon cocktails by the pool, massage on the beach, oh I am there already!

Dinner was light - miso, almonds, black sesame crackers, white nectarines and an apple. More like a picnic than dinner but occasionally I like to graze and have a few different flavours. Do you know how shiny my hair is - incredible the sutble changes that detox makes.

Day 21 of Detox

As it was the weekend I made my weekly early morning run to Bondi beach and although the water was icy it was incredibly refreshing. I usually take the Sunday magazine to read between swims but I forgot. The nippers provided plenty of entertainment instead, they look so tiny with those big yellow boards almost as big as they are! I had a decaf soy flat white on the way home – I figure 3 weeks in that I can have a treat!

I was starving by the time I got home as I only had a white peach and some hot water with lemon when I woke up. As I wanted to head to the gym I made a smoothie with 2 bananas and 1 cup of berries with all my other usual ingredients. I added extra banana for the energy and bananas are also high in potassium which is great when you sweat it out at the gym.

Now, get ready to cheer – my time on the rower today was an incredibly 10 minutes and 4 seconds! I use music and my HypnoBirthing training to get through the pain threshold but I have to admit that I felt like vomiting when I finished – my heart rate was up at 171 so no wonder! I then used the cross trainer and did a hill session which almost had me crying. I missed the yoga class this morning so I did some stretching instead.

I had a fresh juice of pineapple, apple and mint which is one of my all time favourites – it’s perfect on a hot day if you blend it with ice and make a frappe. Lunch was once again from a freezer cook up – a casserole of vegetables and beans.

I have made a really concerted effort to detoxify my home – I only use natural cleaning products as well as make up and body care. I noticed a few months ago that whenever I hoped in the shower I would be able to smell chlorine for the first few minutes. I looked into this and found an innovative Australian company that has patented a shower filter to remove all chemicals from the water. It makes sense right – why spend so much effort and time to detox then hop into a chemical laden shower? We absorb chemicals though our skin and the issue with chlorine is that its chemical structure is similar to iodine (as is fluorine). So both chlorine and fluorine block absorption of iodine.

In case you weren’t aware, iodine deficiency is at epidemic levels in Australia and I routinely test all my patients for this. I have only had 2 patients return normal levels. Iodine is vital for the thyroid hormones that regulate our metabolism, body temperature, reproduction, growth, blood cell production as well as nerve and muscle function. Low thyroid hormones can cause a person to become sluggish and gain weight, affecting their general health, their fertility and ability to carry a pregnancy.

It is important to ensure adequate iodine intake during preconception, pregnancy and breast feeding. During pregnancy, the fetus is entirely dependent upon maternal iodine, which plays a significant role in normal central nervous system formation and maturation. Iodine deficiency during pregnancy is the commonest worldwide cause of preventable intellectual impairment and can be associated with losses of up to 10 -15 IQ points. A recent study involving 1,709 schoolchildren across the eastern seaboard of Australia demonstrated that 40% of children were iodine deficient. So, ask me to check your iodine levels at your next consultation if you have not already been tested.

Dinner is light as I am at Golden Door – I had an abbas apple, a mango and a big bowl of miso. I then did a beautiful thing for myself – an Epsom salt bath, a mask followed by a scrub, all done by candle light whilst relaxing. I felt like a prune by the time I hopped out but I slept like a baby!

Day 20 of Detox

So, this morning I weighed myself at the gym and it seems that my weight is the same as when I started. I haven’t used these scales before so it will be interesting to see what Jess has to say at my reassessment in 10 days. I know my body is much more toned and my muscle mass has increased. My wobbly bits are less wobbly and in fact I feel good at the beach now. I wouldn’t like to do a Pamela run across the soft sand but none the less I could do a stroll comfortably!

I went to the gym and hit 10 minutes 43 seconds on the rower so a little behind my best time. My technique with all the exercises is much better and I really concentrate to get that right before I go for repetitions. Once I finish this detox I may ask jess to split my program so I can do upper body one day then lower body the next. This makes for a very efficient workout as it is quicker but harder.

I had a breakfast of gluten free muesli with a heap of summer fruit (love passionfruit right now), sheep’s milk yoghurt and apple juice. I then went to the organic markets and picked up some fresh produce for the next week. I found those little Abbas apples again and they are just gorgeous. I also bought two big bunches of flowers for myself – I have a tradition to make sure I do this regularly. I am a herbalist after all and flowers make me smile – both visually and olfactory.

Lunch was on the run – a shop bought salad of spinach and pumpkin – I am definitely a better chef so I need to be more organised! Clinic was flat out which I love and then I came home to BBQ some fish and make a salad for dinner.

Did I mention the importance of eating organic whilst detoxing? It is fundamental that you do not add to your toxin load at this time as you will not release any stored toxins. This is the core point of a detox. Have a read of my book for more information on this as it will make or break your experience.

Day 19 of Detox

Ok, so my aim for this detox was to get back on track with my exercise after a very lazy Christmas period. I also aim to include a complete gut repair program which includes a parasite cleanse. Then I will do a heavy metal chelation program towards the end. So for the first week or so I focused on making sure my bowels were working really well and taking anti parasite herbs with probiotics as well as liver herbs ( and a few dozen peripheral things as well!). Then Imoved the focus onto gut repair and a liver cleanse.

I also journal my dreams as often I receive intuitive messages via them. Once I was told to take a B vitamin in my dreams, I had pathology done and lo and behold I was deficient! I definitely do an emotional cleanse – I think about the last 6 months and what has negatively affected me. This detox I wrote a letter, posted it and immediately felt lighter and that the issue was resolved.

So here is a list of what I take (you will never again ask me why you need the 5 different things I give you!):
Liquid detox herbs, individually formulated amino acids that upregulate detoxification pathways in the liver, probiotics, aloe vera juice, anti parasite tablets, high potency antioxidant, zinc, magnesium, a multi, CoQ10, fish oils, a powder for gut repair ( glutamine, slippery elm etc), powdered greens for alkalising and of course chlorophyll. I am sure I have forgotten something but I guess you get the idea.

Detoxing must be individually formulated in order to get the best results. A 23 year old girl is going to have completely different requirements to a 55 year old man. I utilise Live Blood Analysis in clinic to help me do this. It is a wonderful tool and I can see exactly what needs focusing on, whether that is liver, digestion etc. I also test all my patients for zinc deficiency, do a tongue analysis and then iris analysis if I need to clarify a point.

So, since day 8 of my detox people have been commenting on how good I look. By now I feel positively fantastic – my eyes are very white, my irises become more hazel than brown, my skin is glowing and energy levels are 10/10.

Day 18 of Detox

This morning I did Pilates from a DVD at home. I stayed up till midnight working so am feeling a little jaded and not up to an intense cardio workout. Breakfast was my gluten free cereal, oh wait a minute. I forgot to tell you what I add to this. So, into the big jar with the cereal go goji berries and nuts and seeds that I toast with shoyu, a Japanese soy sauce. It is similar to tamari but milder in flavour. By doing this I am increasing the antioxidant properties and protein levels of my breakfast. Then on top I added fresh blueberries, nectarines, sheep’s milk yoghurt and apple juice.

I felt like a coffee today – perhaps because I was up late but I haven’t even thought about coffee for at least 4 days. I often hit a mental slump 2 weeks in and I think I may be suffering from that now. I start to feel that I need to look outside or elsewhere for food. Perhaps it is because I am not eating any starchy carbs except for the occasional bowl of cereal.

I will make sure I eat quinoa (keen-wah) tonight and focus on that for the next few days. I adore this ancient grain and give out thanks to whoever decided to commercialise it. Quinoa has been grown in the Andes for 5,000 years and it reputedly kept the Incan armies strong and robust. It comes from Bolivia and is a Fair Trade product which means that there is no middle man and the people who grow and tend to the crops actually receive a fair amount for their work. This alone will give you warm fuzzies when you eat it! But, it is also one of the highest protein containing grains, does not contain wheat or gluten and is high in minerals. I try to buy the red one (there is white, red and black) as it is higher in iron which I need.

I use quinoa in many ways – add lemon zest and parsley and serve grilled fish on top, throw into your soups and casseroles to increase protein levels or simply throw though a salad. Check out the quinoa risotto recipe on my blog from Chef Andy. To cook quinoa, use 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa, simmer it gently in water for approximately 8 minutes then strain and let rest for a few minutes.

Ok, lunch today was a casserole from my freezer – cannellini beans, lentils, red cabbage, vegetables etc. I have snacked on nectarines and peaches for the afternoon while thinking about dinner. We are having a dinner party and I am cooking so it needs to be fresh, beautiful and detoxifying!

I went and saw Niko from the fish shop and he suggested some local mirror dory fillets. I immediately thought how great they would be with some quinoa, lemon zest and parsley. I was planning on making a large salad with enough left over for me to take for lunch tomorrow. So, as I didn’t have anything at home I went to the Asian grocer’s. This place is incredible as it is always packed and it’s relatively cheap. If I can’t source organic ingredients or I get stuck for options then I always recommend to patients to find a local store that has a very high turnover and the produce is fresh.

A couple of points here – often these smaller shops will be buying produce that there is a glut of so hence they can on sell it cheaply. Also, I prefer to spend my consumer dollars supporting small local businesses than multinationals like Coles or Woolworths. I often do a price comparison just for fun – today I bought a pineapple from the local shop for $1.99, in Coles it was $3.99!

So dinner was perfect – grilled mirror dory, quinoa with lemon zest and parsley and then a super salad of: rocket, spinach, cucumber, carrot, broccoli sprouts, avocado, sheep’s milk fetta, and blanched asparagus. I was going to add toasted pumpkin seeds for the zinc as well as crunch factor but I ran out of time.

Tomorrow I am going to let you know what herbal and supplemental support I take during a detox and why. Many patients ask me this and I think it is important that you realise I do a much stricter detox than I ask you to do. I know what it feels like to be grumpy, bored, feel like you are missing the fun etc etc.