Easy living

After all this horrible rain the sun is finally out and shinning in all it's glory and day to day living just got easy again - runs in the morning, bike rides with the girls, beach days and lazy afternoons in the backyard... yes I do love spending time outside! And if we can't feel grateful for this little bit of sunshine we are reminded that 2 hours down the road families are dealing with the aftermath of all the horrible floods! 


On another note my inspiration for blogging was diminishing the last week and a bit as I was dealing with horrible headaches. The only thing on my mind was to figure out what was causing them, so I started to eliminate the possible causes - first I gave up the computer for a few days as I thought it might be the screen, didn't help. Then I stopped drinking coffee and black tea, I thought I might be sensitive to the caffeine since everything else in my diet is quiet pure, energetically I was feeling awesome but I still had the pain. Then I just figured I must have a brain tumour and my hypochondriac alter ego stepped in and sent me into a panic frenzy, googling all my symptoms and driving my husband crazy! OK so it turns out it was none of the above, it was actually caused from my neck, I had been taking Coco for bike rides in the morning, I would carry Autumn on my hip and walk following Coco on her bike, I didn't realise my body was in a completely awkward position and my neck was completely out - lesson learnt - Autumn goes in the ergo carrier on in the pram! And as awful as this whole ordeal was, I realised that not drinking coffee and black tea was really making me feel wonderful, I noticed my energy was just constant through out the whole day, instead of feeling spurts of energy and then low slumps throughout the day! Coffee and black tea is out and Rooibos is my new hot drink, I do like milk and honey in my tea! 


With my brain feeling foggy free and having enough energy to bounce off the walls, I decided to give this raw cheese cake a crack yesterday... it paid off. Here is the recipe I came up with, I actually read through a few recipes, I added and removed things to fit it with what we like and have in the cupboard! 


Raw Strawberry Cheesecake


For the crust:


1/2 cup Brazil Nuts
1/2 cup Shredded Coconut
1 tb Cacao Powder
2 tb Agave Syrup
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 pitted Dates


Step 1 Process the Brazil nuts, shredded coconut, cacao powder and vanilla extract in a food processor until fine crumbs.

Step 2 Add the agave and dates and process until the mixture just starts to stick together.

Step 3 Press into the bottom of a spring form pan. 

For the filling

2 cups fresh chopped strawberries

1 cup cup of soaked cashews

2 tb Coconut Butter

1/4 Agave Syrup

1 TB Lemon Juice

1/4 tsp Salt

Step 4 Blend all of the ingredients in a high peed blender until smooth

Step 5 Pour the filling over the crust and freeze until ready to serve

Optional - When serving you can pour some strawberries mixed with agave syrup ( my husband said he didn't think the cake needed this)

Rich lushes irresistible cheese cake.. and yes I did over do it on the strawberry topping and sprinkled cacao powder (I was a wee bit excited) Enjoy x 

Mummy free time

One of my new years resolutions was to take some time out for myself, as my husband travels a lot, things can get pretty busy with the girls and I and when hubby comes home we all want to spend as much time with each other as possible, which is beautiful, however this means that I am not getting much time on my own. Balance is the key to any healthy life and  I have realized that it is important to make time for myself and do things that I am passionate about - apart from my family!!!

So today I did just that, as you can see one of my biggest passions in life is food - why? Because I believe our body is our temple, we are what we eat and nothing feels better than filling my families body with beautiful nourishing food that I have made and I love knowing exactly where our food has come from. My choice for "mummy free time" was to attend a raw food class, the class was run by Lisa at the super natural kitchen, she was very inspiring and it was evident how passionate she is about raw food and sharing her wealth of knowledge on the benefits or raw food. I learnt a lot of new recipes and loved tasting and preparing all the food, I especially enjoyed the time to myself. OK-  I'll admit my family managed to sneak their way into the class and taste test some food - Hubby brought the little one to me when she needed a feed - but secretly I loved every minute of them there with me! Then they left me to it. We started the morning with a Green smoothie - yes green in colour but tasted anything but green vegetables. Had a nibble of some onion bread that Lisa had made last night. We made some Kale chips, which I'll pick up in the morning as they are still in the dehydrator and lastly made some raw chocolate petit fours (to die for).

Onion bread 

Coco about to sample a chocolate petit four

I am really really loving making raw food creations, especially the desserts, I was never a great sweet baker! We are going to invest in a dehydrator in the next few months as I learned from Lisa today there is just so much you can make in them... I am really excited about getting one, I can't wait to make delicious snacks that are ALIVE and TASTY! As much as love raw food I couldn't ever imagine changing my diet to 100% raw, I prefer to have a balanced diet, a mix of raw and cooked food and just really listening to what it is my body needs, I love nothing better that educating myself on all things related to this, in fact this what I'll be reading tonight -------->








What's my verdict on "mummy free time"? YES - love love loved it!

The proof is in the pudding

I have been playing around with a couple raw recipes the last few days, I made a raw key lime pie for some friends, which went down nicely, how ever I forgot (again) to take pictures, but that ok I am more than happy to make it again VERY soon! Here is a nice little recipe, if you fancy having a treat packed full of goodness that I just made for Coco and myself, it is quiet rich and we only needed a little bit. Verdict, thumbs up!

Chocolate Pudding


1 avocado, diced
1/4 c agave syrup
1/4 c cacao powder
dash of water
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 tsp coconut oil or concentrate (optional)

Pop it in the blender until it has reached a creamy consistency... Devour or put in the fridge to set for a while!

"yummy mummy" - Coco

 10 reasons to eat an avocado a day:

Prostate Cancer Prevention
Avocados have been shown to inhibit the growth of prostate cancer. (reference)

Oral Cancer Defense
Research has shown that certain compounds in avocados are able to seek out pre-cancerous and cancerous oral cancer cells and destroy them without harming healthy cells. (ref)

Breast Cancer Protection
Avocado, like olive oil, is high in oleic acid, which has been shown to prevent breast cancer in numerous studies. (ref)

Eye Health
Avocados have more of the carotenoid lutein than any other commonly consumed fruit. Lutein protects against macular degeneration and cataracts, two disabling age-related eye diseases. (ref)

Lower Cholesterol
Avocados are high in beta-sitosterol, a compound that has been shown to lower cholesterol levels. In one study, 45 volunteers experienced an average drop in cholesterol of 17% after eating avocados for only one week. (ref)

Heart Health
One cup of avocado has 23% of the recommended daily value of folate. Studies show that people who eat diets rich in folate have a much lower incidence of heart disease than those who don't. The vitamin E, monounsaturated fats, and glutathione in avocado are also great for your heart. (ref)

Stroke Prevention
The high levels of folate in avocado are also protective against strokes. People who eat diets rich in folate have a much lower risk of stroke than those who don't. (ref)

Better Nutrient Absorption
Research has found that certain nutrients are absorbed better when eaten with avocado. In one study, when participants ate a salad containing avocados, they absorbed five times the amount of carotenoids (a group of nutrients that includes lycopene and beta carotene) than those who didn't include avocados. (ref)

Glutathione Source
Avocados are an excellent source of glutathione, an important antioxidant that researchers say is important in preventing aging, cancer, and heart disease. (ref)

Vitamin E Powerhouse
Avocados are the best fruit source of vitamin E, an essential vitamin that protects against many diseases and helps maintains overall health. (ref)

Source. health diaries

Raw food

Yesterday my family and I went to one of the only raw food cafes in Australia "From Earth & Water" it is about a 40 minute drive from where we live and it was definitely worth the little trek! It was incredible, fresh, nourishing and absolutely delicious food. I only wish I took photos of all our meals...We ordered Coco a raw chocolate shake, she loved it and so did we, it tasted so earthy and pure yet still sweet but not that sickly artificial sweetness you get from your typical choc milkshake. I had a yummy wrap made from dehydrated young coconuts filled with kelp noodles and lots of other goodies and topped with a sweet cashew sauce. Hubby had tacos, the shell was primarily made with golden flax and was filled with a guacamole salsa and topped with a "sour cream" and sweet chilli sauce. And for dessert, oh my goodness dessert!!! We shared a white chocolate strawberry chez cake topped with a raw vegan vanilla ice cream. This dessert we could have swore was an actual baked cheese cake, it was un-believable, this dining experience has really inspired me to start experimenting more with raw food meals and after our meals I have hubby convinced too!

How much does this look like your typical creamy piece of baked strawberry cheese cake!!! 

I have also been re-thinking my intentions of this blog and why I am doing it. I am going to step away from the actual challenge side of things - yes I'll admit it does seem like a bit of a cop out, however I will be continuing with the challenge on my own terms, just not writing about it. I feel I went about the challenge the wrong way, I set it out in concrete and this is not the way I like to roll. For example, enjoying a coffee or a piece of food that might be questionable in terms of the amount it has been processed would bring about a feeling of guilt and that my friends is not something I want lurking over my head. I still have the same intentions as I stated before, to fill my and my families bodies with pure, natural wholesome food from mother earth just not under any stringent guidelines -  So therefore this blog is space to share wholesome wonderful recipes, that are not categorized under anything specific, other than being an asset to your health!!! And also a space to share my thoughts and information I receive on all things about making our belly's beautiful!!! I hope you still follow along...

Sweet tooth

Today was one of those idealistic days, kids were easy peasy (not always the case ;) ) and our day ended in a glorious afternoon of swimming in a magical waterfall. BLISS! For dinner I attempted to make some buckwheat coated chicken nuggets, I cooked them on a stainless steel pan, as I am trying to avoid using our non-stick pan as much as possible, (I'd like to throw it out but husband still can't let it go) I have read lots of information on the effects of cooking with non-stick cookware, visit this article for some information about it! However the result of the chicken nuggets ended badly... the coating stuck to the pan and they didn't look pretty, we all agreed they tasted yummy so maybe I'll try baking them in the oven next time.

Mr sweet tooth requested a treat after dinner, so I mixed up some tahini, almonds, cacao powder and honey in our food processor, rolled them in to balls and popped them in the freezer for as long as husband could wait - which wasn't long! They didn't last more then 10 minutes when we did take them out. I usually coat them in shredded coconut and you can use agave or maple syrup instead to sweeten them but we had run our of these ingredients - in saying that, these choc balls worked out just as well, will make them again for sure!

The few left, they were disappearing before my eyes!

New beginnings

I love new years day, the first day of all the goals and challenges you have set yourself for the year. This new year day felt extra renewing and refreshing, as a family we are looking forward to so much this year, lots of milestones to come!

On to day ONE of the challenge... I thought I'd start this one with a yummy dinner which my whole family enjoyed.  Just a note over the next few days/weeks I'll be using up any stock in the cupboard so nothing goes to waste. At the moment when in comes to preparing food, there is only one sentence that keeps running through my mind, I remember my year 7 science teacher writing it on the blackboard, "KISS" keep it simple stupid. I like the idea of simple meals and letting the food speak for itself, I find it confusing when eating a dish with to many ingredients, I'd much rather prefer a dish of fewer ingredients and really taste the flavour of each ingredient. I went to the farmers markets yesterday and over filled my basket with no particular meals in mind, (another favourite thing I love to do) when I came home I knew I wanted to eat my fresh kale with my yummy mushrooms and thus created this meal for tonights dinner!

Kale, Mushroom & Quinoa Dish.

Ingredients:

1 cup of quinoa (soaked and rinsed well)

1 teaspoon of vegetable stock

1 bunch of kale (stalked removed and sliced)

1 bag of swiss brown mushrooms

1 or 2 cloves of garlic (finely sliced)

1 small onion (finely sliced)

2 teaspoons of dried or fresh time

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

Place well rinsed quinoa and vegetable stock in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat.

Heat one teaspoon of coconut oil, garlic and onion in a skillet over medium heat until onion has softened. Add kale and cook until tender. Add mushrooms and thyme and extra oil to coat mushrooms if needed. Cook until mushrooms start to release their juices. Add quinoa and stir through mixture! Bon appetite!

Autumn's sticky fingers which means baby approved!