Lamb Meatballs with Nigella Seeds and Smoked Paprika (SCD)

We have some lovely friends called Mark and Jean Rainbow - a gentle pair of Shiatsu practitioners who, just after Christmas, threw everything they had into buying a parcel of hillside near Bridport. At first they thought it was just the land they were buying and hoped - in good time - to raise a flock of sheep there. But the universe had other plans and soon they found that the previous owner of the land wished to gift them his sheep and cows too. He and his wife had bought the place together, worked it and raised the animals - when she passed away he didn't have the heart to continue and saw that Mark and Jean were as delightful parents as any sheep could wish for. Suddenly, overnight they were farmers and their lives became centred around tending those animals and moving with the rhythm of the land.

The time came when the sheep had lambs and we heard all about lambing in the long cold nights and as spring turned into summer Jean casually asked if I would like half a lamb for the freezer. I couldn't believe my luck and said yes on the spot - wiping away a little anticipatory drool as my mind roamed through lamb dishes to come.

When the lamb arrived all neatly packaged into a cardboard box and Jean sat down with a cup of tea she looked a little tearful. Not really ever much of a meat eater herself she felt it was important that they eat some of the lamb they had raised with so much love. But when they took the roasted meat out of the oven and sank their teeth into juicy slices bathed in gravy, she was reminded of the smell of her lambs on a hot spring day and their mothers labouring through the night as she stroked their back. The lamb tasted not just of lamb, but of her lambs, of their coming into the world, of the fields they gambolled and their soft woolly bodies up close. I said that all those memories sounded wonderful - and if she was going to eat meat, what better a way than to care for it in such a wonderful way.

When we tasted our first piece, I knew what she meant. It was rich and delicious, with a backnote of hay and a definite lambiness. We ate it sparingly, roasting a piece for one meal and eating it the following couple of days as a deeply flavoured stew. Knowing that our lamb had frolicked carelessly in the sun and basked in the care of Mark and Jean made the meat even better to eat. Each meal was a small celebration - which is just as it should be when we remember to thank the universe for providing us with such delicious things to put in our mouths and feed our bodies with.

When I came to the packet of mince that was also part of the box I wanted to make some meatballs that really tasted of something - without overpowering this delicious lamb. I wanted an onion tang, but mild and warm onion. My eye lighted on a packet of nigella seeds (black onion) and soon I had added a bunch of chives and the smoked paprika to make a warm, sweet smoky trinity.

We ate the meatballs straight out of the pan with a bowl full of steamed vegetables, but you could add them to a ragout and pile onto pasta or drop them into a soup or stew after frying. They have a vague hint of naan bread about them from the nigella seeds that suggests they would also be delicious with some rice, raita and a good sprinkling of cayenne.

Lamb Meatballs with Nigella Seeds and Smoked Paprika (SCD) Serves 4 - 6

1 lb lamb mince
1oz ground almonds (almond flour)
4 spring onions (scallions)
1 large free range egg
bunch of chives
2 tsp nigella seeds
heaped tsp sweet smoked paprika (make sure it has no added starch)
few pinches of sea salt flakes

Chop the spring onions and chives finely and put in a bowl with all the other ingredients, (crack in the egg). Then either smoosh it all together with your hands or a fork and roll into walnut sized balls, setting the balls on a chopping board or plate as you go.

When you're ready to eat, coat a frying pan in a little oil and set over a medium heat. Fry the balls on one side until golden and then turn and fry the other side till golden - drain on kitchen paper and keep warm while you cook the rest. Eat straight away or cool and add to soup or ragout etc, making sure they are thoroughly hot before serving.

'Go Ahead Honey! It's Raw Dairy Free Pesto!' - The One Where Nobody Cooked.....

As I sit here with a small but perfectly formed Jamesons whisky casting its amber shadow over the keyboard and the very definite tang of garlic and basil on my breath, I am filled with an enormous sense of well being - because I have a small jar of the greenest, most fragrant and absolutely dairy free pesto on a shelf in the fridge. It will be there when I get up tomorrow, like some super hero of the chiller, packed with energy, taste and colour - ready to zing up a bowl of vegetables or some delicate strips of egg noodle at the veritable drop of a hat.

This pesto is nothing like the dark green salty sludge that we used to buy in a jar. The oily slurry that tasted mostly of cheese and some indefinable herb - we assumed was basil. What fools we were to believe that this muck in any way resembled the uplifting herbal scent of basil. Where was that citrus top note? Where where the hints of minty freshness, the floral back notes - the rounded mouth filling garlicky burn? Cooked off in some factory somewhere before being labelled up with Sacla, or Tesco or Pesto King.

The point is that it was cooked, dead, denuded of the vitality that one inhales from a fresh bunch of basil and a newly crushed clove of garlic. And that is why dear readers, this month's 'Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free' challenge to create a dish that was 'un-cooked' demanded that I make some pesto.

I still have to be careful how much raw food I eat even though my gut has pretty much healed. It's a killer because I really could live on salad, fruit and nuts  - granted, I prefer to cook my protein, but that's not the point. All that roughage needs to be broken down a little for my damaged gut to process, and cooking does the job perfectly, so I steam my veg, or roast it, or toss it in a pan with some ginger and stir fry.

What I miss most about having a large amount of raw food is how alive it is and how alive it makes you feel. If you don't have a damaged gut, try and eat 70% raw for a week and see how perky you feel. Ok your jaw might ache from all that chewing, but your skin will glow, eyes shine and your trousers will probably feel a little looser. At Glastonbury we stopped by the raw food cafe so I could gawp at the amazing salads they had there (on the off-chance that any of it was edible for me - nope) we were greeted by the healthiest looking man I think I ever saw. I mean, it was almost a religious experience for me! He glowed with the kind of health that comes from a sense of inner well being, his skin was flawless and his eyes were as clear as glass. I pined for my old un-cooked ways then, looking at those vibrant salads and happy raw food chefs.

So Cheryl, this pesto is my celebration of all things simple, raw and alive. Because I'm not eating dairy or seeds yet, I've replaced the pine nuts and Parmesan with ground almonds and cashew butter. It makes a creamy mild pesto, where the basil is king and the garlic brings up the rear. It goes down well with kids who think pine nuts are a bit funky and is perfect for SCD newbies.

Dairy Free Pesto (SCD) 4-6 portions

1 1/2 oz bunch of fresh basil
1/3 cup ground almonds
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt flakes (less if grains)
1 tsp cashew or white almond butter
1/2 cup organic rapeseed oil (or half veg oil, half olive oil)
juice of 1/4 - 1/2 a lemon

Skin and squash the garlic. Chuck everything except the oil into a food processor and blitz until a green mush forms. Scrape down once and add half the oil, blitz again and add the rest of the oil, leaving the machine running until the mixture is smooth and creamy looking.

The mixture will be quite thick at this point which I like - To use it for pasta, I just scrape out a spoonful and add a little oil and a teaspoon of water before coating the pasta in it. But you could also stir it into mayonnaise, hung yogurt, pureed vegetables, add it to steamed vegetables with a knob of butter or a drizzle of oil - or just dip some crudites right into the jar as it is. You'll be about half way through before you stop and think - 'hey, isn't this supposed to have cheese in it?'

Fin ate his pesto with grain free egg tagliatelle pictured below (or as he calls it - omelette pasta). To make the pasta I just make some wafer thin egg crepes with a whole egg and a tablespoon of water per egg (two eggs per person) roll them up and slice into thin strips. Hey presto!

If you'd like to enter something un-cooked for this month's 'Go Ahead Honey!' then head over to Cheryl's Blog and check out the event details. I can't wait to see what people didn't cook......

A Low Salicylate, SCD Birthday and Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Yesterday was Fin's seventh birthday. Last year Fin invited half his class for a knees-up that was sabotaged by a rowdy few in less time than it took to sing happy birthday. The final nail in that party's coffin was when Fin excitedly took the girls up to his bedroom to show them his cotton tulle tutu and fled in tear streaked confusion from their derisive sniggers. I'm not even going to start on the naked outdoor boat racing.....

This year we kept it small and only invited hippy kids - if Fin decided they were all going to strip off and have a naked bubble blowing competition, I wanted kids who were cool with spontaneity (and nudity) and didn't demand pass the parcel and blind mans buff and party bags.

I'm not going to give a blow by blow account of yesterday's events, but there were some moments that I caught like a dandelion seed dancing on the breeze and clutched to my chest to keep them safe.

Fin opening his presents one by one in our bed at 6am, squealing with delight and thoroughly examining each before calmly moving onto the next - just the right level of childish delight for the occasion, without the flatulence, squirming and hysteria that formerly characterised present opening.

As I was breezing through the living room with a sugar free Mojito in one hand and barbecue tongs in the other, I saw four small boys huddled on the sofa round the glowing screen of a newly minted Nintendo DS lite, smiling broadly at whatever Indiana Jones was doing - heads resting gently on each others shoulders.

Overhearing Fin telling Nick that this was his best birthday ever. No tears, no fights, just a few friends and an open house and some burgers.

And when I produced a plate of Lemon Meringue Cupcakes with a candle in the top. Even though Fin's eyes popped out of their head with delight, he waited patiently while we sang happy birthday and offered the cakes around - instead of grabbing one and cookie monstering it whole before running off with the entire plate (which is what I wanted to do)

A good day. A day for chalk drawing on the pavement and gangs of children playing hide and seek. A day of many exchanged smiles between me and Nick as we realised how far this little person has come and what a wonderful boy he is growing up to be. A day in which my heart fluttered up in my chest so often that I had to grab Fin and tell him how proud I am of him. The first of many delightful birthdays to come.

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes (SCD & medium salicylate content)

I kept the rest of the party food very low in salicylates so Fin would have the chance to have one honey & lemon blow out. If you are not following SCD but need something very low salicylate - lemon, honey and almonds are all fairly high in salicylates. So I suggest using a combination of ground white nuts such as brazils and cashews (no almond), swap the honey for agave syrup, use mango juice for the curd and swap the lemon zest for vanilla in the cakes. You'll then have a vanilla mango meringue cupcake - which actually sounds pretty good! I'm going to try them out....

Lemon Cupcakes (makes 8)
If you're feeling pushed for time you can just mix these together without beating the eggs separately, but whipping the whites makes the cakes more fluffy.

zest of 1 lemon and juice of half
3 large tsp of nut butter - (almond, cashew, brazil, sunflower seed...)
2 dessert spoons of mild honey (runny or set)
50 ml vegetable oil (organic rapeseed, grapeseed or sunflower)
3 large free range eggs
6 oz mixed finely ground nuts (brazils, blanched almonds, cashews, blanched hazels, or almond flour)
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp vinegar (cider or white wine)

Preheat the oven to 160C fan assisted (175C without) and set out 8 muffin cases in a bun tray - fill any spare holes with water.

Separate the eggs and put the yolks in one mixing bowl and whites in another. Add vinegar to the whites and beat until stiff peaks form - set aside.

To the yolks add lemon zest, honey, nut butter, bicarb and oil and beat until smooth before adding the ground nuts and stirring until incorporated.

Gently fold in the beaten egg whites until no lumps of white are visible and spoon into the waiting cases - or pour into a jug and pour into the cases. Fill them about 3/4 full.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until risen, golden brown on top and springy to the touch. Cool on a rack.

Lemon Curd

3 large free range egg yolks (save one white separately for meringue)
1/4 cup of mild honey
1/4 cup of lemon juice (or mango)
1/4 cup of butter cut into lumps

In a bain marie or a heat proof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, mix the egg yolks, honey and lemon juice with a whisk. Keep stirring as it warms up.

Then start adding lumps of butter, one at a time. Stir constantly until each lump has melted and then add the next. When all the butter has been added, keep stirring slowly, until the mixture starts to thicken. This should take about 5-8 minutes after the last bit of butter has been added.

Take care not to let it curdle by stirring constantly - but gently! When it looks about custard consistency take it off the heat and put the bottom of the bowl into cold water to stop the cooking. Allow to cool and spread onto the cakes.

If the cakes have risen too high - just cut off the top or scoop out a little space for the lemon curd to sit in.

Vanilla Marshmallow Meringue

1/4 cup mild creamy honey
1 egg white (saved from the curd)
1 tsp bourbon vanilla extract - or similar

Beat the egg white to soft peaks in a medium sized bowl set on a cloth to stop it moving about.

Heat the honey in a small milk pan and gently simmer until it reaches the semi hard ball stage - a drop in a glass of cold water will form a firm ball when you pick it out and squeeze it. Don't let the honey turn too dark. If it starts to look darker than deep gold, get it off the heat immediately and get on with the next stage.

Pour the molten honey in a thin stream onto the egg whites, beating with the electric hand whisk as you pour. This requires the bowl to be held by someone else or set on a cloth so it doesn't spin round! You need to work fast to get the honey on the egg whites while it is boiling hot, so it will cook them, and before it turns into toffee! Quickly scrape the last bits of honey out before they set.

When all the honey has been added, throw in the vanilla - still whisking - and beat until the mixture looks opaque and marshmallowy - it should be pretty thick and fluffy. The heat of the honey cooks the egg white enough so that it should be absolutely fine for children to eat - if you're nervous, use pasteurised eggs.

Spoon into a piping bag - or a freezer bag which you cut the corner off after filling - and pipe onto the cooled lemon curd in a theatrical swirl. The filling stays soft, so you can leave the piping for a while if the curd isn't cool yet.

Arrange on a gorgeous cake stand or pretty plate and dive in!

Salicylate Sensitivity and SCD - a juggling act performed by yours truly.

The specific carbohydrate diet (SCD) seems to have been the veritable light at the end of the tunnel for my digestive system. With each bowl of steamed vegetables or soothing soup, each morsel of fish and spoonful of hazel butter, my tummy curls like a cat in the sun, yawns, stretches and goes back to sleep again. After the helter skelter of my recent experiences, this calm in my gut is akin to a spiritual experience sometimes! I've still had to experiment and found that dairy just doesn't suit me yet. When Fin complained that my face smelt of cheese - I knew the dairy had to go. If you're not digesting something, it will be apparent on your face - rub your chin with a tissue and smell it - a bit cheesy? You either have dairy intolerance or you need to exfoliate....

Fin however, was a little slower to respond and still seemed to have the crazies on a regular basis. I knew he was eating too much raw food, but after he cried over another lovingly prepared flask of soup in his lunchbox, I relented and bought back the crudites. His stools were also just not settling down - to the point where we had to evacuate the bathroom every time he used the toilet! I took him to my cranial osteopath - nicknamed 'the Jedi knight' by all that have felt her subtle healing hands on their twisted spines. At the end of the session she told me she thought it was salicylates that were responsible for his crazies. It was like a light bulb flickering to life (a low energy one of course) as I realised that Fin's favourite foods were saturated with salicylates. It wasn't the sugar sending him bonkers - it was salicylates!

For those of you who have never even heard of salicylates, they are merely naturally occurring compounds that certain individuals can be sensitive to. Mostly those folks who are on the ADHD scale and those who have a hypersensitive system - asthmatics, hay fever sufferers etc. Salicylates stimulate the central nervous system in these unfortunate people, who are generally already a little over stimulated anyway. The result is a salicylate high followed by a low - a grumpy, lethargic, can't make it home from school on my bike, carry me mummy, flop onto the grass, slump. Not everyone notices such a definite effect and may find it's more of a build up where other symptoms are involved - lots of itching generally. But with Fin it was like someone had put a nest of ants down his trousers and asked him to dance till he felt better - and not worry about being rude to his parents either.

The problem was that all the foods high in salicylates were the ones we were eating lots of on the SCD. Almonds, apples, citrus fruits, berries, honey, pineapples, hard cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, radishes, bell peppers, aubergines and courgettes. The two diets almost seemed to contradict one another! For a moment there I felt overwhelmed with indecision - was I barking up the wrong tree with SCD for Fin? Would we become one of those households where everyone eats a completely different diet, with me and Nick only consuming tomatoes and pineapple juice under the cover of darkness? But you know me - I'm a positive person, a hopeful Aries who rarely looks back long enough to notice I have toilet paper on my shoe. I just got on with it.

So that's why I now use lots of hazels, pecans, brazils and walnuts in my recipes. When I prepare Fin's supper he has a big pile of steamed broccoli, green beans and peas, or some carrots and bok choi. His crudites are mostly carrot and celery, with the odd addition of cucumber and cherry tomato. Juice is mango or pear with apple, made up half and half with sparkling mineral water. Honey is kept to a minimum and he snacks contentedly on dried bananas, chewy strips of dried mango, sweet baby figs and magic lemon bars. It's right - I finally found the right balance for him and he's thriving.

His peachy skin glows with health, his belly is flat and those beautiful sea green eyes shine with humour - not hysteria. When he has a little too much of the wrong stuff (too much fruit or veg!) and his legs find themselves jiggling or he feels compelled to chant insane songs whilst wobbling about on a chair balanced on two legs, we look at each other and he sighs, 'salicylates'......

If anyone out there would like more information on SCD plus low salicylate diet, please email me or comment. For a comprehensive list of salicylate levels in foods have a look at this link.

x x x

A Nice Loaf of Banana Bread (SCD) - Not Cake, Definitely Not Cake......

Yes, I know this bread looks like a cake with those nuts sprinkled carelessly over the top and billowing as it does - cakeishly - from its greaseproof nest. And if I'm honest, there is something cake-like about the texture that is simultaneously light and yet rich with ground almonds and egg yolks. I guess you could also argue that it has a certain, hmm, cakey taste of tea time indulgence bought about by those bananas, speckled to indecent ripeness, sweetened further by the oven. But it is not a cake.

Pictured above is the bread that Finley brandishes with delight in front of his school mates, Mothers Pride crumbs hanging from their slack jaws; the sandwiches he shows the dinner ladies as they peer at his unusual lunch box and ask is he having cake or muffins again for lunch? For Finley knows there is more goodness in a slice of this wicked lunch time treat than all those 'ham on white - hold the salad' sarnies his friends chomp every day. And for anyone daft enough to question the veracity of Fin's claims about the health benefits of his indulgent looking lunches, he is ready with a fistful of raw vegetables to beat some sense into them.

Enjoy your banana bread simply with some butter or a slick of nut butter, or toast a peice and slather on honey, or some 100% fruit marmalade. If you want to use it for sandwiches then think about something that will work with a sweet tasting bread; cream cheese and walnuts or hung yogurt cheese would be delicious - or maybe squash a really ripe fresh fig in there. Just remember, there's no sugar in this loaf - not a hint, so its ok to enjoy it at any time of day - you could even try banana french toast with apple sauce and cinnamon. We certainly don't believe that something so nutritious should be kept for tea time, just because it happens to taste like cake.

And as my inspiration for this very blog would say - 'That's why we have cake every morning'. Thanks Mickey!

Banana & Walnut Bread (SCD)

2 large extremely ripe bananas
4 large free range eggs
6 oz ground almonds
50ml rapeseed oil (organic or non GM)
juice of half a lemon
pinch salt
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 oz chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 160C fan assisted (175C without fan) and line a 9inch square deep sided tin with greaseproof. If you don't have that size of tin then use something approximate, round even - hey nobody will complain about the odd bits that get sliced off the end, believe me!

In a food processor (or using a hand held electric whisk) whizz together the bananas, eggs, oil, lemon juice and salt (mash bananas first if using whisk). When everything is smooth and frothy sprinkle over bicarb and whizz again for a bit to mix it in thoroughly. Then tip in all the almonds and blend to incorporate.

Pour immediately into the waiting tin and scrape every last bit out. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over the surface of the mixture and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown on top and a cake skewer comes out clean.

Cool for ten minutes and then remove from the tin using the paper to help you. Leave the paper attached until completely cool and then carefully peel off, using a knife to help separate crust from paper. Slice the square in half before cutting slices off - to make two loaf shaped peices. The bread will keep for up to three days in an airtight box in a cool place, but don't let it get warm or the fruit sugars will attract mould. Alternatively, slice and open freeze before storing in an airtight box in the freezer for up to a month.

Slow Food for a Windy Day

Yesterday as I stepped into the garden with a basket of washing under my arm, the wind wrenched the door roughly out of my hand and it leapt away on its hinges as I stumbled blindly towards the washing line with hair plastered across my face. A good day for washing, bright and cloudless with the kind of wind you could lean back on, but wouldn't want to spend much time in. Back inside, Finley's eyebrows shot up with delight at the wild way the wind had styled my head and we turned back to the garden to watch the washing dance and fly about on the line. A day to sit in the warmth of the conservatory, practice magic tricks and read a novel; a slow food day to pop something into the warmth of the oven and let it transform into a melting comfort dish.

Slow summer food is different from the dark rooty stews and deeply flavoured meat of winter. Roasted summer vegetables have a vibrancy and sweetness that demands the counterpoint of a crisp salad or some steamed green beans. Roasting a pepper only seems to increase the sense of Mediterranean heat contained in that bright red body. Just the thing for a day that looks bright, but socks you in the chest like a quarterback if you venture into it.

Creating a stuffing for a pepper that doesn't include grains was an interesting dilemma. I didn't want to chuck too many nuts in there, because I was after something succulent and deeply flavoured and squash also felt too light. Lean minced beef was the answer - not too heavy, but deeply flavourful. I chose the spices that say comfort to me, cinnamon and saffron with a touch of rosewater a little hint of Persia. Flavours that nourish the spleen and lift the heart. Where you have saffron you need sweetness, so I caramelised some leek as a base and threw in some tart barberries to counterpoint all those deep and sultry tastes. Of course this would also be delicious made with lamb, but be sure to get rid of as much fat as you can after frying the mince and be liberal with the lemon juice.

This dish is rich, so serve it with something clean tasting and light, maybe shower the plate with pomegranate seeds as I did - to increase the tart contrast to the meat. Some chopped spring onions and fresh leaf coriander would be delicious here too. Pop a little wedge of lemon on the side of each plate so people can adjust the tartness to taste.

Fragrant Roasted Red Peppers (SCD) serves 4

2 enormous pointed red peppers or 4 smaller ones
1 medium leek
2 sticks of celery
1lb of lean minced beef (or lamb)
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
2 oz flaked almonds
small handful of black or green raisins
2 tbs of barberries (or tart currants)
large pinch of saffron threads
1 heaped tsp cinnamon
2 tsp rosewater
2 pinches of Himalayan salt (or sea salt)
2 oz ground almonds
Zest of a lemon and juice of half

Cut off the darker green parts of the leek and thoroughly clean the pale green and white part. Chop finely and saute in an oiled frying pan (skillet) until starting to look translucent. Chop the cleaned celery finely and add this too, sauteing on a low heat and stirring occasionally until the leek smells sweet and the celery is soft.

While the leeks are softening, weigh our the other ingredients. Grind up saffron and salt until fine in a pestle and mortar and stir in the rosewater - set aside.

Add the mince to the pan and fry on a medium heat until it is cooked through. Drain off any oil from the pan and return to the heat and push everything out to the edges of the pan leaving a space in the centre. Scrape the chopped tomato into the centre of the pan and cook until the juices start to thicken a little before stirring everything together and turning off the heat under the pan.

Preheat your oven to 180C and oil a pan large enough to comfortably fit the peppers into.

Stir all the remaining ingredients into the meat and check for seasoning - more cinnamon? more lemon? more salt? When its right, cut tops of the peppers and pull out the seeds before evenly spooning the mixture into the cavity of each one and laying it down in the tray with its top pushed back on. Any mix left over can be popped in the oven in a loaf tin with foil on the top to warm through for the last half hour of cooking.

Drizzle some oil over the peppers and roast for 1 -1 1/2 hours until the skins are dark and puffed up and the peppers meltingly soft. Peel the skins off when you eat them.

Homeopathy for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

I wrote this article for a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome website and when I came to email it to the editor, I found that her details were absent- gone - nada! Doh.... It must have happened in the change over from PC to Mac, when so many little details seemed to dissapear into the ether, never to be found again.

The only solution I can see is to publish it here and hope that in the fullness of time those details will come to light. In the mean time at least I can share my experience of the condition and hope to help someone in the process.

Most doctors draw a blank when confronted with CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome). So it can feel pretty bleak when you finally get the longed for diagnosis. As it is an auto-immune condition, the best thing you can do is rest, de-stress your life and start to strengthen your immune system, so you can heal yourself from the inside. Good advice for all of us really – but hard to put into practice in the hectic bustle of the modern world. Those of us with a pre-existing auto-immune condition (celiac disease in my case) can be more prone to CFS than the general population because our immune system tends to over react to stimuli and our weak adrenal glands can easily become exhausted.

My strategy is threefold. First to support the adrenal glands with gentle stress relieving exercise such as yoga, or relaxation techniques such as meditation and conscious breathing if you are severely debilitated, and exercise would deplete you further. The point is support and relaxation, not stress and strain!

Secondly, to eat food that does not cause fluctuations in blood sugar. By maintaining the blood sugar at a constant level and avoiding peaks and troughs, the body can focus on repairing itself rather than producing large amounts of insulin and adrenalin which burden the liver and lead to exhaustion. CFS is often accompanied by digestive disorders such as diarrhoea, leaky gut, candida and food intolerance. By eating only what your gut can digest fully, you will absorb the nutrients you need from your food, rather than having it pass undigested through the intestines – causing inflammation and feeding yeasts and harmful bacteria on the way.

Thirdly I use homeopathy to rebalance the body and support the emotions. Homeopathy is great for CFS because it does not chemically burden an already weakened system. It can help raise energy, manage aches and pains and soothe the difficult feelings that arise from such an overwhelming condition.

Let me start by explaining a little about homeopathy:

Homeopathy is a system that uses microscopic quantities of medicine to stimulate the immune system and bring about healing by providing the stimulus that allows the body to find balance and harmony again. Disease generally comes about through failure to adapt to our environment and homeopathy enables us to adapt again and thrive. It is based on three main principles:
Like Cures Like
A substance that causes symptoms in a healthy person will cure those same symptoms in someone who is unwell. For example, a remedy made from onions can be used to cure hay fever with streaming eyes. This is because onion causes your eyes to stream when you chop it. The symptoms of the person are matched to the substance that can cause similar symptoms.
The Minimum Dose
The smallest amount needed to stimulate the immune system is given. Rather than giving a drug which changes the body’s chemistry and needs to be given in ever increasing amounts, as in orthodox medicine. This means that there is no drug dependency, no side effects and remedies can be changed quickly, according to the needs of the patient.
Individualisation
No two patients are alike, even with the same disease. A Homeopath looks at the patient as a whole, taking emotional, mental and physical symptoms into account when selecting a remedy. Homeopathy does not treat diseases, it treats people with symptoms. This means it is effective even when there is no diagnosis of a particular disease. The homeopath is looking to rebalance the patient, to enable them to heal themselves. If you are treating yourself, you should try an embrace these principles too, so that you can prescribe something that fits you as a person.

Ideally you should see a qualified homeopath who will look at all your symptoms, including your previous history and prescribe remedies over a period of months that work on the underlying problem causing your CFS. It requires great skill and perception to assess which remedies to use, what potency and how often to give a dose. Homeopaths undergo years of training in order to practice this form of medicine and lasting cure is unlikely from home treatment.

However, there are some remedies that can give palliative relief (not curative but make you feel better) and these are safe to use at home in the short term. The first step in helping yourself is to look at diet and remove what homeopaths refer to as obstacles to cure. If you are eating something that you are intolerant to, this will constantly sap your energy and undermine your immune system and foods that are refined and processed are not health promoting in any way.

Start by taking all the worst offenders out of your diet for a few weeks, by this I mean:

• All refined sugar - except for a little honey if you really need something sweet. This includes muscovado, fructose, molasses, and rice syrup etc, any sugars that have been manufactured in some way. Refined sugar exhausts the adrenals and yours are exhausted already, so they can’t cope with the rollercoaster ride that sugar gives them!

• Cut out wheat and corn (maize) completely in any form and try to only eat grains in their whole form, unprocessed. Many people with impaired immune function cannot cope with modern wheat and maize exhausts the adrenals as it releases its starch quickly into the blood stream and contains lectins (proteins) that inhibit metabolic function. If you suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome too then just eat a little brown rice every day and leave the other grains – they are tough to digest.

• Only eat dairy in cultured form and sparingly, live yoghurt and small amounts of cheese are ok. Use nut milks, oat milk or a little goat or sheep milk. Some CFS sufferers have lactose intolerance and should avoid all uncultured dairy, and eat only yogurt that has been made at home and fermented for 24 hours to eliminate all lactose.

• Avoid soya unless it is cultured as tofu, tamari, miso or tempeh. Soya contains hormone disrupters that can exacerbate CFS.

• Minimise consumption of legumes (beans and lentils). When you cook them, soak for 24 hours and change the cooking water at least once to make them easier to digest.

• Avoid all stimulants; coffee, tea, cocoa cola, chocolate, cocoa and alcoholic spirits. A little wine with a meal is ok, but not every day.

Then try to follow the following principles:

• Eat a rainbow of fruit and vegetables, especially the bright and deep coloured ones. That way, you will maximise the range of nutrients you consume and increase your intake of those all-important antioxidants. Don’t eat too much raw veg to start with as it can be tough to digest. Invest in a steamer and steam everything together, adding it according to how long it takes to cook. Much less washing up when you are exhausted. Mashed vegetables such as squash, carrot and sweet potato are very nourishing, easily digested and comforting.

• Eat your fats raw as much as possible and use rapeseed oil to fry in rather than olive oil, which is unstable at high temperatures. Rapeseed has the highest omega 3 content of any of the common cooking oils. Try and get hold of organic or non-GM oil though. Coconut oil is fantastic if you suffer with candida as it is anti fungal – use it in place of butter and for frying, or mix in a little honey, ground almonds and vanilla extract and freeze in ice cube trays for a delicious and healthy treat.

• Eat lots of things that come from the sea. Sea food, fish and sea weeds are great metabolism regulators as they stimulate the thyroid and provide it with the building blocks it needs to function. Supporting the thyroid helps the adrenals as they are intrinsically linked.

• Eat slow cooked food such as soups, stews, casseroles and braised meats, not only are they easy to prepare – all the work is done by the oven or stove – but they support your spleen and adrenals according to traditional Chinese medicine.

* Look at your plate as though it is a pie chart. Half of it should be vegetables, a quarter lean protein (fish, meat, eggs, yogurt etc) and a quarter whole grains or carbohydrate. If you have irritable bowel syndrome or leaky gut then the grain portion should be even smaller or non existant and you should try to get your carbohydrate from starchy vegetables (except white potatoes which are very fast releasing).

When you have done this for a few weeks think about taking one of the following remedies. The important thing is to match your symptoms to the symptoms of the remedy. Think about what characterises the way you feel. Are you exhausted and apathetic? Do your legs feel like jelly when you try to walk? Do you feel fluey and just want to lie down in a darkened room? Do you feel tearful and helpless? When you have thought about it a bit, have a look at the remedy list and make a selection.

• Phosphoric-acid – Complete apathy and exhaustion. You may find yourself going through the motions without even the energy to feel anything about it. Contact with friends can feel like too much work, even though you usually love to be around people. You may find it hard to remember things and concentrate. Physically, you may need to get up a lot in the night for a pee, may have painless diarrhoea and crave juicy fruits, juices and refreshing things like fizzy drinks and fruit sweets.

• Kali-phos – Nervous exhaustion. Your nerves are shredded and you feel that the slightest thing might make you lose your self-control. You feel easier on your own because there are no demands on you and may feel irritable when others are around – even family. Physically, your excretions may have a yellowish colour to them – orangey yellow snot, coating on tongue, stools or vaginal discharge. There are sweet cravings and a tendency to nibble constantly on biscuits and chocolate or to feel ravenous first thing in the morning. You may have back pain with a weak feeling.

• Gelsemium – this is a classic flu remedy so symptoms often feel like early stage flu. Weakness and heaviness, especially in the legs that can tremble especially during stressful times. All muscles feel sore and tired. There may be a lack of thirst but a great need to pee with a feeling of relief afterwards. You just want to lie down and be quiet.

• Picric-acid – This is the remedy for brain fag. There is a complete inability to perform any mental task as though capacity for though has been reached. There can be headaches from mental exertion with a feeling of fullness in the head, and burning pains in the spine, between shoulder blades or in the legs. A great feeling of heaviness at the back of the head and down the spine. There may be pernicious anaemia.

• Muriatic-acid – There is complete physical debility but you remain clear headed and calm. As soon as you sit down you could sleep, your body collapses, lower jaw drops; ‘the mind is willing but the body is weak’. Sometimes fever and diarrhoea accompany this condition, or there may be an inability to control bowel function when urinating or passing wind. There can be complete aversion to meat.

• Stannum – Extreme weakness especially in the upper part of the body, can’t even talk. Trembles on moving, trembling hands. Great sadness and desire to weep constantly, but crying just makes you feel worse, more depressed, exhausted. Bizarrely you may feel better for rapid movement and worse for slow movement. There may be a complete lack of appetite or even nausea and vomiting at the sight of food.

• New ERA tissue salt combination for Nervous Exhaustion – this is a general tonic that will help most sufferers in some way. It is a combination of Calc-phos, Kali-phos and Ferrum-phos. Especially useful where there is iron deficiency anaemia.

This is not an exhaustive list of remedies than can help sufferers of CFS. Because homeopathy is individualised, you may have symptoms that are not covered by any of these remedies and will need to consult a homeopath to get a prescription that suits you. I also must emphasise that prescribing for yourself will only give short-term benefit and you should not take any of these remedies un-supervised for longer than six weeks.

When you have chosen your remedy you need to decide which potency to take. A good rule of thumb with homeopathy is that the weaker you are, the lower your potency should be. If you are very weak then you should chose a 6x, less weak a 6c and just exhausted a 30c. Then take your remedy once a day for a week and see how you feel (twice a day for 6x). If there is some improvement then continue taking the remedy for up to three weeks. If there is none then you may not have the right remedy and need to chose again – or consult a homeopath. If over the three weeks you feel that the benefits are less, you can increase the dosage to twice daily (up to four times daily for 6x). If you feel you are no longer getting any benefit after three weeks but your energy has increased then chose the next potency above. If you were on a 30c then it’s time to go see a homeopath!

Remedies can be purchased online from Helios Homeopathic Pharmacy or by phone on 01892 537 254, where you can also get advice from a homeopath.

Any questions regarding dosing or potency can be addressed to me at: naomidevlin@f2s.com

Magic Lemon Bars (SCD)

When I was a girl there was just one dessert my mother made from scratch and she called it Magic Lemon Pudding. The moment the clean scent of lemon zest hit my nostrils and I heard the laboured sound of the hand whisk clunking away, I knew we were in for a rare treat.

Sometimes she even let us beat the eggs into a wonder of gravity defying foam, each taking our turn to hold the bowl, whilst the other grappled with the neglected whisk and its fascinating arrangement of cogs set into motion by the cranky wooden handle. In a childhood largely devoid of cosseting and delicious treats, this dessert was ambrosial manna from heaven. We called it magic lemon pudding because it was one of those sponge desserts that separate to form a sauce underneath. To us it seemed like alchemy. Watching that sponge rise to the top of its Pyrex dish, through the glass door of the oven was like witnessing a miracle every time. 

So now when I want something that speaks to my inner child of comfort, I turn instictively to lemons and butter and almonds. I'm not offering a recipe for magic lemon pudding just yet - although I'm sure it will emerge in time - instead I give you these snack bars that remind me how delicious that dessert is, with the additional benefit of portability. Don't be fooled by their unpretentious packaging - these babies are all that. They have a satisfying body to them, a little like marzipan but without the overpowering wallop of almond essence. The mild nut flavours support the three separate notes of woody bourbon vanilla, mouth filling cocoa butter and fresh tingling lemon zest. Each finding its own receptor on the tongue if you let it.

You could eat these bars for breakfast if you like, but please don't scoff them in a hurry whilst running for a bus. Look on them as a little slice of something to savour in a quiet moment. Something to slip into a lunch box with a knowing wink at the recipient.  A welcome pick me up for a tired small person as they tumble out of the school gates.

If you don't have cocoa butter don't despair - you can make these with dairy butter or even coconut oil, but use a little less and don't melt the fat as it is already soft enough. You will have to refridgerate them to get the same toothsome bite or just enjoy a slightly softer version instead. You can also make them purely with almonds or any combination of pale nuts such as cashews or macadamias. If you can't find blanched hazels, just roast them gently for about 15-20 mins at 140C and then tip them into a tea towel and rub off the skins, blow the loose skins away outside for the birds to nibble on.

Magic Lemon Bars (SCD) makes 8-10 bars

2 oz each of brazil nuts and blanched hazels

2 oz ground almonds (almond flour)

2 heaped tsp set honey

finely grated zest 2 unwaxed lemons

1 tsp bourbon vanilla extract

1 oz cocoa butter

Chop the cocoa butter roughly and melt in a bain marie. Set aside.

Grind brazils and hazels to a fine meal in a coffee grinder, or process as fine as possible in a food processor (without turning into nut butter or bars will be horribly oily).

Into the bowl of a food processor, tip the almonds, ground nuts and lemon zest - pulse to mix.

Spoon in honey and drizzle over vanilla and cocoa butter. Pulse until the mixture looks like damp crumbs.

Cover a chopping board in cling film or baking parchment and tip the nut mixture out. At this point it looks like it will never form a dough, but have faith. I use a large chopping knife for this part, a square sided cleaver is even better. Push the mixture into a rough oblong about 3 1/2 inches by 6 inches and 3/4 inch thick, using both your hands and the knife to encourage the mixture. Then slap it with the flat part of the knife to compact it and tidy up the sides.

When you are happy with the compactness and neatness of your oblong (and have vented any pent up frustration) leave it for ten minutes to set - in a place away from cats and children. Then slice into bars and wrap in greaseproof paper or waxed paper, twisting the ends to secure.

The bars will keep for a few days happily at room temperature, a week or so in the fridge in an airtight box or a for a few weeks in the freezer in a box. If you can keep them that long I'll give you a special certificate commending your strength of will.

If you like these, I also have a darker hazelnut version in the pipeline which is pretty fabulous too x x x

Phew!

I'm back! I'm back at my desk with a hot cup of vanilla scented assam tea, thoroughly showered yet my hair still retains the campfire smoke and the slight aches in my body remind me that I just spent a week at Glastonbury.

I'm not going to write much today, I still have to empty the rucksacks and feed the washing machine. My head feels light and yet heavy as the adrenalin fades and a week's worth of sleep deprivation kicks in.

It's so quiet! My ears are picking up the tiniest sounds that yesterday would have seemed so insignificant. They have been busy tuning out generators and music and the loud crashes that emanated from trash city and now they strain to readjust to the quiet hum of my Mac.

My fears of mud baths and trench foot were unfounded, just one night of rain threatened to repeat last years fiasco and people had prepared with the most amazing array of colourful wellies that I think they would have been disappointed had there not been a chance to wear them.

The cafe crew were fantastic. No arguments and no accidents to spoil the atmosphere of goodwill that bound us all together.

We didn't feel compelled to see it all and consume Glastonbury till we were sick. We saw Amy Winehouse and Vampire Weekend and jumped as high as we could at Manu Chao. Mostly we wandered and absorbed it all with open hearts, drifting effortlessly through the crowds with our hands in each others. When it was time for a shift we put on our aprons and scrubbed our nails and felt happy to be part of something so amazing.

Thank you for all your prayers and lovely words. They worked you know! You sent me off with a spring in my step and a friendly arm around my shoulders.

Now I really must get back in the kitchen and cook something that I can eat!