Welcome to Buenos Aires

When Hub and I went to Buenos Aires for a few days to visit La Casita Shelter for Street Child World Cup we managed to squeeze in a bit of fun and lots of Malbec. Here are some photos and highlights from our mini trip.

Hub found this quirky 19th century apartment in San Telmo, the cool and young neighborhood of BA with lots of bars and restaurants. I loved our flat which was in lively green courtyard and was decorated with antique features. There was also a home movie theater beneath our kitchen floor, which was converted from an old wine cellar! 

The food and service was amazing and a breath of fresh air compared to Rio, which struggles with the concept of customer service. San Telmo had great cafes for breakfast and most offer combo specials like medialunas with coffee, OJ and eggs for like $5. Amazing, but my favorite thing was the fresh baked wholegrain breads served with cream and jam like at Origen Cafe.

Everyone recommends Argentine steak, but Buenos Aires also does amazing fresh pasta especially for vegetarians. Our friend Daniela recommended we check out this row of restaurants on Avenida Caseros that offer set lunch specials and that's where we discovered La Popular. Great place with the best pasta dish ever - macarrón with fresh mushrooms and cream. Oh my god it was good! 

We also hit this place next door for dinner, which was equally amazing and very romantic. Unfortunately I can't remember the name, but I remember the pasta dish. 

squid ink tagliatelle with fresh basil and langoustines

Buenos Aires was hot and humid on our trip so one day we decided to check out the Malba Museum in Palermo, a ritzy part of town. I loved their collection of modern Latin American art and was super pleased to see my very first Frida Kahlo painting.

She's my favorite artist...can't you tell?

Hub and I walked south from the museum to La Recoleta, which was a nice 30-minute stroll through intense humidity. Hub kept poking fun at my sweat 'stache, which made its debut. We found relief at El San Juanino and indulged in Torrontés wine and empanadas. So good and good together I might add.

We arrived just in time to see Evita at La Recoleta Cemetery. The tombs varied in extravagance and some were absolutely beautiful. I've never been to a catacomb cemetery before and I found it really unsettling. I could feel the presence of dead souls lingering about and the cobweb covered caskets were rather frightening. It gave me the creeps and I wondered what it's like their at night?

Evita

We spent our last night with one of the directors of La Casita, Oscar, who invited us to his lovely home and provided an amazing Argentine feast. His wife, Vivian, is a beautiful singer and serenaded us that evening. It was the perfect end to a wonderful trip and really sums of Buenos Aires for me, passionate and full of life.

In the Kitchen Dairy-free Tzatziki

I thought going dairy-free would be a challenge, but it's actually been okay. I've also been learning a lot about dairy and it's gotten me rethinking my love of cheese. Studies carried out in The China Study show that the dominant protein casein found in cow's milk promotes cancer growth and has the power to TURN-ON cancer cells in our bodies. Also there's this idea that milk is high in calcium and can prevent osteoporosis. However, dairy is acidic in the body and our body draws calcium from our bones in order to neutralize the acidity of our extra cheese, cheese pizza. This leads to the "brittle bone" disease and countries that consume the most diary and animal products, have the highest rates of osteoporosis and hip fractures. Yikes!

Being on a vegan detox can be tough when eating out in Rio. We went out to a boteco and I saw palm heart soup in a spiced coconut broth on the menu and thought yum. I asked our waiter if it had milk of any kind in the soup and he assured me their was no milk. When the soup arrived, it was filled with melting cheese! Very few restaurants get creative with vegetarian food, so we've mostly been eating in.

The other night I was craving tzatziki, but Greek yogurt is a no-no on my detox. I started thinking about alternatives for yogurt and coconut milk with avocado came to mind. I thought coconut milk would make a great base and the avocado would provide some weight and a creamy texture. Also the avocado would mellow out the coconut flavor in the milk. This was so easy to make, just blend everything together in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Serves 2

• 1 cup of canned coconut milk (full fat is best, but light works too)
• 1/2 of ripe avocado
• 2-3 sprigs of fresh dill
• 1 whole garlic clove
• 2 tsp of olive oil
• sea salt & pepper
• 1/2 large cucumber peeled, seeded and chopped

And thank God it turned out well. It was actually wonderful and Hub loved it. Almost like the real thing and it went well with this amazing babaganoush recipe too. I think it's all about the dill and it brought me back to that wonderful Mykonos trip.

Giving up dairy is a going to be tough if I do decide to commit. I can't say for sure that next time I'm in France I'm going to pass on a beautiful display of fresh cheeses with a glass of Sauternes in my hand; but I don't feel the need to have cheese in my sandwich or in a fried pastry like they love so much here.

Here's some interesting posts from the net if you want to read more:
Does dairy cause cancer?

Debunking the milk myth

Detoxin' with Kris Carr

 

Following my New Year's resolution to be a holistic goddess, I've decided to kick start the year with Kris Carr's 21-Day Adventure Cleanse. For the next three weeks I will try to reduce the acidity of my insides (and release the toxins) by avoiding alcohol, wheat/gluten, sugar and high GI fruits, all meat products including seafood and dairy, and lastly giving up my morning cup of Joe. 

I am in awe of Kris Carr. Ever since I started reading about her story and how she lives life with stage IV cancer in her lungs and liver, I felt inspired. This is a woman who has now been living with incurable and inoperable cancer for over 10 years and looks fresh as a daisy. After seeing her film I felt like I wanted to be vegan, I wanted my immune system to be strong! I asked for her book Crazy Sexy Diet for Christmas and inhaled it like crispy french fries with ketchup. It's filled with great info about nutrition and explains in funny layman terms how food behaves once inside our bodies.

This idea behind the Crazy Sexy Lifestyle begins with the understanding of alkalinity versus acidity, the pH scale. Our body is designed to be slightly alkaline and our body operates at it's best when the blood pH is 7.365. In fact our body will do whatever it can to stay there, but things like environment, stress, and diet can cause acidity in our bodies leading to disease and illness.

"We control the destiny of our health.
We control the quality of our health."

-excerpt from Crazy Sexy Cancer

I was particularly drawn to this detox because it is a wholefoods, low fat, vegan diet and I've been fascinated by nutritional studies, like that of T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Neal Barnard, that show this kind of lifestyle can reverse diabetes, heart disease and help prevent cancer. I've never eaten this way before and I want to see if I can do it. Even for three weeks, can I hone in on the good and leave out the bad?

I'm also trying to understand my prediabetes and diabetes in general. Most of the info out there links diabetes to obesity, but what about people who are not obese? I recognize bad choices I've made in the past, but I also still feel very confused as to why I have prediabetes. I mean am I skinny fat? Do I have reactive hypoglycemia? I hope to share with you how it's going, some recipes, and intriguing facts.  

Some interesting reads for this post:
Detox is a two step process: awakening and releasing the toxins

The truth behind detox symptoms