I’m not obsessed with food, but I’m a taste-shopper and fascinated how yummy healthy food can be and how still much of the Western world prefers to stuff themselves with artificial numbers and preservatives which can’t possibly good for you in any way. Shaucha – purity of body and mind – is one of Yoga’s base principles and makes a hell of a difference to your mood, health, well-being and even looks!

You are what you eat.

Being a vegetarian is a personal choice which doesn’t suit everyone, just like living on a boat. However eating wholesome, ‘real’ food, I think is our responsibility towards ourselves, our dear and near ones as well as our planet. So why not start your day with some good habits, commencing with a delicious homemade breakfast granola.

Homemade Granola

Depending on your likings, vary quantities to balance the mix or make an extra patch as a present. In a clean and tightly sealed container in the fridge, this lasts several weeks but will most likely be devoured before.

• Choice of mixture of your favourite activated nuts (soak them for several hours, then dehydrate them either in a dehydrater or at low temperature in the oven or, for you boaties, on a home-made solar oven on deck, until they are dry) covered in cinnamon dust. When time’s an issue and activation all too much, just roast the nuts in a frying pan or the oven with cinnamon and maybe even mesquite, if available.
• Maple syrup roasted oats (at low heat about 15′ in the oven). Add any seeds (eg pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, flax…) you fancy
• Super berries like goji, cranberry, acai, dried blueberries, mulberries…
• Chopped dates, figues or any other dried fruit you like
• Buckwheat (my new favourite), first soaked for 24 hours (rinse well 1/2 way through and again after a day – it gets slimy), mix with a dollop of honey, grated zest of an organic orange and ground cloves, then dehydrate for 12 hours – until dry (see above for different dehydration variations)
• A handful (or more) of raw cacao nibs – sometimes I even chop a few bits of good quality dark chocolate to be a little naughty;)

And what to have it with? No other than your homemade nut-milk which you can make fresh even if you are mid-ocean!

Homemade nut-milk

Soak your nuts over night (almonds are my favourite, but any other works too giving the milk each a distinct flavour). Pour away the soaking water. Place in a blender (on a boat, watch your battery power – but the draw is worth it!) with the same amount of water (eg one cup of nuts to one cup of fresh drinking water). If you use less water the milk will be creamier, with more it will be more watery. Blend well. Pour through a muslin cloth. Add a pinch of Himalayan rock salt and a dollop of maple syrup. Enjoy fresh with your granola or cool to make a smoothie later.

A few nutritional facts

• Ayurvedically the granola can be quite cooling, thus Vata and Kapha aggravating. Make sure that your milk isn’t freezing and that you balance it with warm meals, depending on season.
• Buckwheat has a high protein content, contains all essential amino acids and is great for muscle relaxation (including pre mens cramps) due to its high magnesium content.
• Maple syrup, in stark contrast to refined sugar, is natural (I know, sometimes eating local and healthy choices such as sugar substitutes clash – decide what’s more important for you right now), full of anti-oxidants and other minerals such as zinc and manganese, plus a bit of iron, calcium and potassium
• Cacao nibs – the natural way of boosting your energy levels, Aztec style, no side effects.