Deliciously Ella Every Day

Title: Deliciously Ella Every Day: Simple recipes and fantastic food for a healthy way of life

Author: Ella Woodward

Year: 2016

Publisher: Yellow Kite

Synopsis: Sequel to her record-breaking number one best-seller Deliciously Ella, Ella Woodward is back with more simple and nourishing recipes plus lots of advice for people who want to be healthier and happier.

Review: Can you be healthy when you have a desk job or feel like you’re constantly busy? Well, Deliciously Ella says yes and as a loyal fan I believe her wholeheartedly.

To follow on from her first book Deliciously Ella, the second instalment has a whole chapter called Healthy Eating On-The-Go. I notice straight away that this is the main difference between the two books.

The first one didn’t have as much emphasis on fitting in healthy eating into a busy lifestyle, something that most of us probably need help with. It’s nice to see a whole section devoted to people who feel that time is a barrier to eating healthily, it’s not! This sets the tone for the rest of the book because the recipes are simple and mostly made with ingredients you would already have at home. This is the genius of Deliciously Ella and the reason people all over the world fell in love with her.

If there’s one thing I know about Ella’s food it’s that it’s all worth a try because every recipe is, as her name suggests, delicious.

Flicking through the pages and the mention of sweet potato and coconut soup, carrot cake muffins, and chocolate ganache cake start to make my mouth water! “Wait” I hear you ask, “how can carrot cake muffins and chocolate ganache cake be healthy?” Well that’s the genius of Deliciously Ella. Not only are they full of nutritious ingredients, they are so easy to make.

My birthday is coming up soon and I found myself thinking that the chocolate ganache cake would be perfect to blow out my candles on. The best part is that I could get my sweet fix without the energy slump I know I would feel afterwards if I ate a normal refined sugar-laden cake from the supermarket. The anti-oxidant rich, raw cacao powder provides the chocolate taste in this ganache cake and I notice that avocados and almond butter are included in this recipe so I know from experience that these will make the cake decadent and creamy. 

Don’t get me wrong though, there are lots of savoury dishes too and although I do have a sweet tooth I love the sound of almost every salad. From Middle-Eastern inspired salad to Mango and Avocado Salsa, there are plenty of lunch and dinner recipes that have as little as five ingredients!

I found the lunch section the most intriguing because when I first started eating healthily a few years ago I, like many others, ate boring lettuce-based salads for lunch most days and the lack of taste made me resent the healthy way of life. Ella knows about this habit because she used to do it herself before she found the huge array of other plant based foods she could mix together and make into scrumptiously energising meals.

At the beginning of this chapter Ella makes a point of saying “The word ‘salad’ seems to fill most people with dread, as they imagine plates of Iceberg lettuce with soggy cucumber and tomatoes: let’s be honest, no one wants to eat that.” It’s reassuring to know that she really does understand what people go through when they attempt to start eating healthily.

Ella’s story really is inspiring. She gives a brief explanation about how a plant based diet transformed her life because it enabled her to live without the medication she was on for a chronic illness called postural tachycardia syndrome.

While reading her story, fantastic colourful pictures are thrown into your vision of her holidays abroad, fun times with friends and obviously lots of food; you are drawn into her unique world. Her down-to-earth tone makes you feel like you’re one of her pals and she clearly enjoys taking you on her food-filled journey.

She was never in it for the fame, she is just a normal 23 year old girl who has been through turmoil and now simply wants to help others live a happy and exciting life with the help of delicious food. This is epitomised by the message she has printed at the very end of the book: Love your life. Love your food. Love your self.

Summary: The focus on easy, nutritious and hearty food is what makes Ella’s recipes a delight to read and make. “Deliciously Ella Every Day” is as simple as it sounds. It’s not about buying 50 ingredients just to make one special meal for a weekend, it’s about knowing how to make wholesome tasty food that will keep your body happy and energised all day, every day.

Book Rating: 9/10

Favourite quotes: 

  • “Nourishing your body with goodness needs to fit into your existing lifestyle and not feel like a crazy, overwhelming task.”
  • “I’m not here to preach or to make anyone feel guilty about enjoying pizza, cheese and chocolate cake; after all, the Deliciously Ella way of eating and living is all about positivity.”
  • “I know that our lives don’t go to plan one hundred percent of the time, but if you prepare well and have some easy things stashed in the fridge to grab when you’re running late, or if plans change, then staying healthy and feeling awesome is going to be a lot more manageable.”

Safia Yallaoui

Safia is a lifestyle blogger and coach at the fitness membership company MoveGB. She also has an MA in journalism and has done a variety of freelance work in print, radio and online. After losing 14lbs a few years ago Safia got into health and fitness realising the most important thing about clean eating is nourishing your body. She loves to keep in shape with weight training and going to fitness classes. Whilst training to be a Nutritional Therapist she is learning how to alleviate health problems by including or omitting certain foods and has a keen interest in the affects of sugar on a person's physical and mental health.

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