The most amazing organic breakfast bowl in the world!

I have fallen in love… With breakfast!

One of my clients shared her breakfast recipe with me and I just can’t believe how amazingly delicious and satisfying it is! The recipe I was given was quite summer themed so I’ve made some changes to it to include winter fruit and have also upped the protein and nutrient content.

I pretty much change this recipe every day depending on what I’ve got in the cupboard or what I remember to put in so don’t be scared to experiment.

Using oat bran (ground up oats) means that it cooks really quickly so you only need to set aside 5-10 minutes to make it and its quicker to eat than oatmeal and more filling. When I’ve had this for breakfast it keeps me going way past lunch time and its so good that I wake up craving it!

Want to know the health benefits of having this for breakfast?

• Its full of fibre and great at keeping your bowels regular (a daily bowl of this should result in a daily bowel movement)

• Oats are great at nourishing the nervous system to help you cope with stress and they also help to lower cholesterol absorption

• Almond meal and almond butter along with the seeds provide protein to help balance blood sugar and keep you fuller longer

• Flaxseeds are a great source of essential fatty acids, b vitamins, antioxidants, magnesium and manganese. They are also a source of lignans which are beneficial for fertility and menopause.

• Chia seeds also contain essential fatty acids and antioxidants as well as calcium, vitamin c, iron and potassium. They are also a good detoxifier.

• Pears are a delicious winter fruit and according to Traditional Chinese Medicine very important to include in your diet during the colder months. Kim from Kim Gatenby Acupuncture says “Pears are a great natural treatment for coughs during winter. They are a Yin tonic which is nourishing, especially for our delicate lungs. As a preventative, you can enjoy pears regularly throughout the cooler months, and as a treatment eat as many as you can tolerate to clear your cough!”

So I guess the real question is, why wouldn’t you eat this for breakfast?

Here’s the recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water

• ¼ cup oat bran

• ¼ cup almond meal

• 1 tablespoon coconut flakes

• ¼ cup sultanas/raisins/currants

• 5 freeze dried strawberries (or fresh in summer)

• 1 pear

• 1 tablespoon flaxseed (linseed)

• 1 tablespoon chia seeds

• 1 teaspoon almond butter

Method:

1. In a small saucepan bring the water with dried fruit and coconut to boil then turn heat down to a low simmer.

2. Add strawberries, oat bran and almond meal and stir

3. Grate one pear and add to the pan

4. Add flaxseeds and more water if needed

5. Just before serving stir through the chia seeds and almond butter

Serve with a little milk or yoghurt, a sprinkle of cinnamon and some fresh banana if desired.

Healthy Muesli Bars

A client recently asked me to help her modify a Muesli Bar recipe to make it healthier. We took out the refined cane sugar and replaced it with coconut sugar, making the bars lower GI and higher in essential nutrients, replaced the butter with coconut oil so it won’t impact cholesterol levels and won’t turn rancid when heated. I also threw in some chia seeds for omega 3, calcium, antioxidants, protein and iron.

I’ve made two batches of these delicious bars now and they are a hit! I thought I should share the recipe in case you want to do some lunch box baking this weekend!

You will need:

• 1 cup rolled oats

• 1 cup coconut flakes

• ½ cup almond meal

• ½ cup chia seeds

• ½ cup sunflower seeds

• ½ cup pumpkin seeds

• 1 cup currants/sultanas

• 1/3 cup coconut oil

• ½ cup raw honey

• ¼ cup coconut sugar

• Method:

• Line a 3cm deep 16cm x 28cm baking pan with baking paper.

• Dry cook the oats, coconut and almond meal in a frying pan over medium heat stirring for 8-10 minutes or until golden. Add the dried fruit and seeds and set aside to cool.

• Heat coconut oil, honey and coconut sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer without stirring for 7 minutes. Add to dry ingredients and stir to combine.

• Spoon mixture into the pan and press down with a large spoon. Allow to cool, cut into 16 squares and store in an air tight container for up to 7 days.

ANZAC Cookies - Healthy ones of course!

ANZAC day is coming up fast so its time to start thinking about getting your ingredients together for your ANZAC cookies.

These cookies are a hit in my house, really easy to make and totally delicious!

You will need:

• 1 cup almond meal
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• ½ cup coconut sugar
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• ½ teaspoon bicarb soda
• 1 tablespoon water

Method:

1. Combine almond meal, coconut, sugar and oats in a bowl.
2. In a small saucepan slowly heat and stir the oil and honey until melted.
3. Mix the bicarb soda and water in a small bowl, remove saucepan from heat and add the bicarb mixture to the saucepan. The mix will froth.
4. Pour the liquid into the bowl of dry ingredients and combine well.
5. I rolled mine into 20 cookies but could’ve made 2-3 more if my partner hadn’t been hovering around eating the raw mix!
6. Place on a cookie tray or baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake on 150 degrees C for 13-15 minutes or until golden.
7. Allow to cool

About the ingredients:

I've used Almond meal instead of flour to make these cookies a great wheat free option (please note they are not gluten-free due to the oats). It also makes them a fairly good protein snack - Yay!

Coconut oil is used instead of butter as it is high in medium chain fatty acids and will not raise blood cholesterol. In fact, it is good for heart health.

Coconut sugar has twice the iron, four times the magnesium and over ten times the zinc of brown sugar. It’s a great low GI alternative to cane sugar.

Honey is used instead of golden syrup. Golden syrup is made in the process of refining sugar cane juice into sugar, or by treatment of a sugar solution with acid. Honey is made by bees so is naturally a better choice and is full of antioxidants. I've used raw honey as its even more antibacterial and healthful!

These cookies are such a great Low GI, healthy oil, protein-full snack and they are very difficult to stop eating! Enjoy them on ANZAC day or any time of year!

Vegetarian Cauliflower Curry

I love this curry. It’s very easy to prepare and I use it as my mid-week fall back if I need something quick to make after work.

I serve it with brown rice, which combined with the chickpeas, provides all of the amino acids to make a complete protein so this is an ideal vegetarian meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil

• 1 onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1.5 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated

• 1.5 teaspoons cumin

• 2 teaspoon turmeric

• 2 teaspoons curry powder

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets

• 800g of tomatoes (In jar or tin)

• 1 cup frozen baby peas

• 1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

• 1⁄2 cup coconut milk

• 1 Lime

Method:
1. Heat oil in large pan and sauté onion, garlic and ginger until soft. Add spices and sauté for one minute.

2. Add cauliflower to pan and combine. Then add tomatoes and bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer until the cauliflower is tender.

3. Add the peas, chickpeas and coconut milk and simmer for a couple of minutes.

4. Serve on brown rice and squeeze ¼ fresh lime juice over the top.

Choc-Mint Brain Power Bites

These balls are a really great way to take fish oil. Especially for kids. You can get a full therapeutic dose of fish oil in one ball for children and two balls for adults which definitely beats swallowing six capsules!

In my clinic, I use a high potency fish oil for children with ADD, ADHD, ASD and learning difficulties. The oil I use has quite a strong peppermint flavour and some children are happy to take it straight off the spoon while others won’t touch it! So, these choc-mint balls are the perfect disguise and they are now one of my favourite treats to eat!

I also have an adult version of the mint flavoured fish oil, which is used to prevent age related cognitive decline and is great for boosting brain power!

And of course they work well with orange flavoured fish oil for an anti-inflammatory and anti-ageing Jaffa Bite.

Ingredients (Organic)

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil

• 3 tablespoons raw honey

• 3 tablespoons raw cacao

• 1.5 cup rolled oats

• 30ml mint flavoured fish oil

• Desiccated coconut (no added sugar)

Method

1. In a food processor or stick mixer, blend the oats to make a fine powder

2. Add the cacao, coconut oil and honey and blend to combine

3. Mix in fish oil near the end – don’t blend too hard.

4. Roll into 12 balls and roll each ball in desiccated coconut.

5. Refrigerate to set. Store in fridge

*Each Brain Power Bite will provide approx. 2.5ml fish oil

If you don’t want to use fish oil in this recipe, just add more coconut oil or honey and some peppermint essence to get the right consistence and taste.

A note on fish oils

I use particular practitioner only oils as they are of a very high quality and are tested for heavy metals as well as rancidity. It is important when buying fish oils, to go for quality. Cheap fish oils often cause reflux or fishy burps – this is because the oil is rancid. Rancid fish oil is very bad for your health. When it comes to fish oil, avoid the bargain bulk tubs that seem too good to be true as they are likely rancid, high in heavy metals and from fish caught by unethical and unsustainable practices.