Tag Archives: aphrodisiac

Coconut Watermelon Elixir {RECIPE} Aphrodisiacs for Health

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What kind of foods hydrate and nourish? Watermelon. Coconut water. Cucumber. These are the ingredients that come to my mind when I’m walking outside, enjoying the sunshine and the fresh ocean air. I’m wondering how to blend these ingredients up and make something nourishing out of it. A freshly blended, icy, good for you slushie comes to mind. I need moisture, replenishing moisture. Drinking water isn’t enough for me these days. My skin has been especially dry, and I’m noticing that the very basics of feeling good come down to three things: drinking water, eating whole foods, and sleep. Those three things are the most simple, yet effective, in feeling youthful, vibrant and delicious. Yes, delicious! I hold this working theory that the better hydrated, the better you feel, the even better your sex life. Hydration is essential to everything: feeling good and looking beautiful starts inside. Take care of yourself by eating healthy, exercising (like yoga, pilates, walking, bicycling) and hydrate your body. As we age, we need more water to help us stay juicy. Plump up those cheeks, moisten your lips and drink up!

So, how to feel juicy? I’ve contemplated how to create and conjure up a beautifying, nourishing drink that helps me glow with radiant health and moisturize my skin from the inside out.

Here are the ingredients and why they are good for you:

COCONUT WATER: Hydration at its tastiest. There has been a surge of coconut water drinks on the market, and I’m excited to find coconut water in so many stores. Ideally, fresh from the coconut is best.  I love drinking coconut water with a straw in the top of the opened coconut. Its sweet flavor is easy to drink, although some people don’t have the palate for it. It’s one of those things that you either love or you don’t. If you don’t, I suggest using it in a smoothie if you want to benefit from its nutritional content. Drinking coconut water has a certain nourishing quality that helps me feel better when I’m catching a cold or fighting off the flu. Electrolyte and mineral rich, coconut water is the hydrating nectar of the tropics, naturally sweet, excellent in smoothies or making almond milk, and great on its own. Coconut water also contains bioactive enzymes that aid in metabolism and digestion, adding to the list of healthy reasons to drink coconut water regularly.

WATERMELON: Watermelon is 92 percent water, high in vitamins B5 and C, beta carotene, folic acid, vitamins B1, 2, 3 and 6. Watermelons contain calcium, magnesium, lycopene, phosphorus and potassium. They help quench our thirst and we can’t imagine a summer without eating them in big, juicy slices. High in potassium, a natural diuretic, reduces uric acid in the blood, lowers blood pressure, and (listen up, gentlemen) watermelon rind helps raise your erection a bit. Really? This is why:

Watermelon rind contains a high concentration of a phytonutrient called citrulline which relaxes blood vessels to increase blood flow throughout the body. This has a similar effect as some erectile dysfinction treatment medications. It can also assist prostate health.

ALOE: Aloe Vera juice has many benefits. Care should be used, however, as it is extremely laxative. Just a little bit of aloe juice goes a long way; so don’t go wild with it. Also, it can lower blood sugar, so diabetics need to use it sparingly.

The health benefits of Aloe Vera juice externally as a salve for cuts, scrapes and burns. Aloe taken internally helps circulation, blood pressure, promotes healing, boosts immunity, eliminates constipation, blood sugar regulation, and improves skin conditions. Aloe is fabulous for detoxification and a great addition to any juice cleanse. It is antibacterial both inside and out. Aloe Vera juice taken daily helps maintain good health, wellness and energy.

 

CUCUMBER: When I treat myself to a spa day, I think of cucumbers. The classic image of a woman wearing cucumber slices on her eyes isn’t just a silly cliché — it actually works for the skin in many ways. The spa I frequent is a Korean spa and the first thing I do is schedule a body scrub. This is one of my beauty secrets that everyone can benefit from. Dead, tired skin is sloughed off, improving its radiance and circulation. During the scrub, where I am completely head to toe naked, sliding around on a wet vinyl massage table, being scrubbed with a loofah by a strong Korean lady, I am dreaming of “the cucumber moment.”

The “cucumber moment” is when my therapist covers my face with freshly grated, ice-cold cucumber. Just the smell of cucumber makes me happy and relaxed. And guess what? The scent of cucumber is an aphrodisiac for women. No wonder. I must admit, sometimes while I’m laying there with the cucumber all over my face, I feel a bit like a sunomono salad. But drifting off during the body scrub into relaxing bliss with cold grated cucumber on my face makes me a happy girl. And that is one of my better associations with cucumber. Yes, the phallic shape has been a well known source of adult-oriented humor. But that’s not why I love cucumbers so much. They taste so watery good and slices of them in a pitcher of water lends a refreshing taste to every day drinking water. Super hydrating!

Cucumber is a palate cleanser, nourishing with its high content of water, potassium, antioxidant vitamin A, and vitamin K, which is necessary for supporting and regulating blood coagulation. There are so many reasons why that crunchy, cool cucumber is good for you. Eating it and using it on the skin, both ways benefit your beauty.

Add cucumber slices to your drinking water to keep in a glass pitcher in the refrigerator!

ASIAN PEAR: Sweet, juicy, crunchy. Asian pears (Nashi in Japanese, Bae in Korean) Apple pears, Korean pears— it has many names but one thing is for sure: they are hydrating and delicious! With a quenching taste between an apple and a pear, the Asian pear is one of my favorite fruits. It has many beautifying perks and contains a golden amount of nutritious value. High in vitamin C, the Asian pear helps boost immunity, nourish the body with water, fiber, and minerals like potassium. Vitamin C also helps your body form collagen, a protein in our connective tissue.  Asian pears contain a bounty of B vitamins, such as folate and pantothenic acid, niacin and B-6.

LIME: Limes are known for their effective treatment of scurvy. The slang term “Limey” was coined back in the 17th and 18th century, a derogatory name for British sailors that suffered from scurvy, a chronic deficiency of vitamin C. Those poor British sailors of yore needed limes and lemons to boost their vitamin C levels and how! Drinking rum all day in the salty sea air and strong sun, those sailors looked awful rough. But the lime, fragrant and packing a cannon shot of powerful flavonoids blasted those sailors with anti oxidant, anti carcinogenic, anti biotic and detoxifying limey nutrition. Skin disorders, bleeding gums, digestion ailments and constipation be gone! They recovered from scurvy. Even if you aren’t suffering from scurvy, as I’m sure you aren’t, try using limes (and lemons) more often for that natural vitamin C boost.

 

Coconut Watermelon Elixir

INGREDIENTS

1/2 bag ice, lime flavored if possible

Coconut water from 1 whole fresh coconut, cold, opened

1/2 small watermelon, cold, chopped

Lime juice from 1 lime, squeezed

1 Asian pear, chilled, cut in slices

1/2 chilled cucumber

1/4 cup chilled aloe juice (optional)

sweeten with 1 tablespoon of sweetener of choice (optional)

I emphasize the words cold and chilled in this recipe. Make sure all ingredients are cold and chilled so that you aren’t relying on the ice to make everything chilly. Cold cucumber, watermelon, aloe, and coconut water taste more refreshing when kept at that icy temperature.

In a high powered blender like a Vitamix, blend all ingredients into a slushie. Pour into a cold glass. Add straw and enjoy.

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Eating Aphrodisiacs

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Being a sensualist is being passionate about life… eating is an experience of smell, taste, texture and emotional fulfillment. It is delight, a lover’s afternoon, a bowl of pleasure. 

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Chocolate Cake For The Soul

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“Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people. It does for me.” ~ Audrey Hepburn

When I am in need of some soulful contemplation, the kitchen is where you will find me. I was baking cake this past holiday season— just the thing to make during rainy weather and melancholy moods. Seeking ways to cheer myself, I read through cake recipes. “Chocolate cake,” I thought to myself, “what a good idea.”

 

Like a hopeful little girl peering through the display case of cakes, I searched for a recipe. It was Christmas time and I was in the mood to bake something sweet. When I bake, the first thing I like to do is to put on a favorite apron. I feel pretty doing this, just like dressing up for a party. Cold gray weather is chased away by the warmth of the oven. The smell of cake batter, the wonder of dark chocolate. Humming along to Ella, Nina, Billie and Etta, cracking eggs into a bowl, measuring out sugar, creaming butter, sifting cocoa, melting chocolate.

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It Must Be The Ginger

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We ordered the ginger pork curry for the first time. Kay, the waitress, suggested that it went best with sticky rice, so we agreed. Also side dishes of papaya salad (Som Tam) and Tom Kha soup, laced with the potent spice of Thai chili.

Our Thai teas arrived, tamarind orange, slushy with ice, the condensed milk swirling into cloud patterns, served in tall Coca-Cola glasses. The straws came adorned with small roses sculpted by hand out of the white wrapping paper. I thought this was charming. Just what I would expect from this little dollhouse of a Thai restaurant, hidden away in the urban sprawl of Los Angeles.

We were two lovers meeting in a Thai café, taking a moment away from the rest of the world. I’ve wanted to hold on to this memory, because it was when we first met. We sat side by side, leaning close together, my head resting upon his shoulder. I noticed the shape of his ear, the masculine lines of his face, and with my eyes I traced each curve of his cheek, his eyes, nose, lips. The scent of his skin, so good, I nuzzle into the curve of him like a little girl seeking comfort. I can never get close enough, leaning into him, kissing the side of his neck, inhaling near his cheek, a kiss placed there. Our hands linked, tips of his fingers caressing mine. I feel shivers run through me. I want him. Down to the tips of my toes. Inhale. Sip of creamy tamarind-sweet Thai tea goes cold down my throat. I feel it send its condensed milk through my veins until I am buoyant with that giddy feeling of being saturated with sweetness. Falling in love.

Kay brought each dish to the table. The festive papaya salad, the aromatic hot pot full of Tom Kha soup. Sticky rice wrapped in plastic, placed inside cup-sized baskets. The rice package is hot in the palm of my hand. I want to scoop it out, spoon it on my plate, but I wait for the curry.

He opens his, takes the rice from its basket, eats a little of it by itself. My mouth is full of soup. I savor the Tom Kha with shrimp and some white fleshy fish, spoon plunking into the creamy bowl, straw mushrooms bobbing happily in the coconut milk, eating fat slices of tomato, hot and steaming in my mouth. I taste lemongrass and galangal root, chili and kaffir lime. Tom Kha nourishes me when I’m in need of something comforting, and I resort to it when I am not feeling well. No other soup makes me feel better. But even when my health is good, I crave a big bowl of it.

Then the aphrodisiac dish arrives: kaeng hangleh (ginger pork curry) with large slices of ginger, a dazzle of peanuts, the stew of the curry so sensuous and velvety, its sultry gravy saturating the sticky rice with a hearty glaze. Cilantro, fragrant and green, feathered on top of the surface. Peanuts dappled among the large pieces of pork meat, and the curry itself thick with a wondrous color mélange of turmeric-orange, massaman paste chili-red. A curry that has depth, a healing pot of stew. This curry made me forget vegetarianism, and all of my meatless days, finding something nurturing in the flesh of a pig.

I think of that first bite of the ginger pork curry, how it was ladled so lovingly on top of the pillow of sticky rice by my Darling, as he served me each amount without the meat of the pork, just slowly dousing the hillock of my white portion of rice with the unctuous gravy, making sure I got my share of the wide slivers of ginger. When I think of that taste and soul satisfying texture, how it seeped into my blood and bones, I realized that ginger, glorious and zesty, a mischievous rhizome root, made my body zing with desire. I felt my veins buzz. Potent with the spicy passion of ginger, it was as if some devilish pixie lit tiny fires of lust inside of us. It must be the ginger, I thought.

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{RECIPE} Seductive Carrots with Cinnamon, Ginger and Pomegranate

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Seductive Carrots

with cinnamon, ginger, and pomegranate

These rainbow carrots are so lovely left rustic in their skins, not peeled or cut, just au natural and naked from the earth. Gently rinse them, toss in olive oil and sauté. It’s very simple. Sprinkle with cinnamon; then add in slices of fresh ginger root, and splash with pomegranate juice. Voila! You’ve got an ooh la la dish worth its spice in seduction.

I could barely manage watching my Darling cook this dish without swooning. What a sly combination of flavors for carrots! Like a pretty farm girl dressed in lingerie, they showed off their natural beauty in a seductive ruby-colored sauce. Serve this dish with a sparkle in your eye. It’s pure seduction.

 

  • farm fresh rainbow carrots (about 2 pounds; 900g)
  • 6 tablespoons of olive oil
  • sliced (or grated) ginger root
  • pomegranate juice, about 1/2 cup (120 ml)
  • ground cinnamon, sprinkle generously
  • pinch of orange zest (or peel)
  • sea salt and ground pepper
  • pat of butter
  • 1 tablespoon honey (optional)
  • pomegranate seeds (garnish)

 

Wash the whole carrots in a colander. Do not peel. Rub them clean with your hands or scrub lightly with a vegetable brush.

Toss them in a casserole dish with olive oil.

Add cinnamon and slices of ginger root.

Add in the orange zest or even slices of orange peel. Don’t be shy.

The cinnamon and ginger add a special magic to these carrots.

Sauté in a large pan for a few minutes on medium heat, taking care not to crowd the carrots (they need space when reducing the pomegranate sauce).

 

Pour in the pomegranate juice, about half a cup or more.

It does not have to cover the carrots since you are not braising them.

 

Let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes on medium-high heat uncovered.

Go with your instincts. Allow the spice, zest and ginger to mellow into the carrots, reducing the sauce.

 

When you feel that the carrots are ready, turning ruby-red in the sauce, dash in a little sea salt and let it simmer a bit more.

Stir and toss occasionally.

You can finish the carrots in the oven at 375°F (190°C) for the remaining 20 to 30 minutes, but pan roasting them on the stovetop is just as delicious. During the last 5 minutes, add in a few pats of butter to give the sauce extra body and a beautiful glistening texture. The sweetness of the pomegranate juice will enhance the carrots in a marvelous way. You’ll see.

 

Did you know?

In ancient times, Middle Eastern royalty used carrots for seduction, believing the phallic-shaped roots would imbue virility and stimulate the senses.

 

  • Ginger helps circulation, aids in digestion, and is a powerful aphrodisiac.

 

  • Cinnamon reduces bad cholesterol and helps the body create insulin, which is good for managing type II diabetes. The spice is anti-inflammatory and its aroma is one of the top aphrodisiac scents, especially for men. It is a mood elevating spice!

 

  • Pomegranates played a seductive role in ancient Greek mythology: Hades seduced Persephone with pomegranate seeds. Aphrodite’s symbol of fertility and love, the pomegranate is the apple of seduction. Packed with antioxidants, pomegranate seeds (and juice) deliver some sexy health benefits as well as seduce with appetizing color.

 

 

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