Creamy berry chia pudding

This is one of my favourite snacks, breakfasts or even desserts. Its so fresh and creamy and not to mention nutritious. YUM!

Chia is full of so much goodness, being high in omega 3, fiber and many micronutrients. Plus as they swell in your tummy they will keep you full too.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chia seeds
1 can coconut cream
1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries
Stevia to taste

Blend coconut cream and berries until smooth. Pour into bowl, add in chia seeds and stir until thoroughly mixed through. Add stevia to your liking. I use about 1/2ml of liquid vanilla stevia. You could also just add 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla essence or 1 vanilla bean pod.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Top with fruit and serve :)

Creamy berry chia pudding

No Noodle Pad Thai

This recipe was taken from a book called ‘Green Kitchen Travels’ by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl with a few slight modifications. It is such a fresh dish bursting with flavour and is perfect for a hot summers night. I also love that it is very allergy friendly (except for peanut allergies but I will give you an alternative to peanuts) and so healthy.

Ingredients:

2 zucchinis

4 carrots peeled

250g mung bean sprouts

4 spring onions finely sliced

350g organic, GMO-free firm tofu cut into quarters (grilled chicken can be substituted for tofu if you want soy free)

1 large handful coriander chopped

2 tbsp. black sesame seeds

4 slices lime to serve

Peanut sauce

125g peanut butter (tahini paste can be used if you want to go peanut free)

4 tbsp. lime juice

2 tbsp. honey

2 tbsp. organic tamari or soy sauce

¼ red chilli chopped fine

2 tsp grated ginger

1 tbsp. sesame oil

Approx. 3 tbsp. water to thin

Use a peeler or spiralizer to create noodle from zucchini and carrots. In a large bowl add zucchini and carrot noodles to mung bean sprouts and onions. Add tofu, coriander and sesame seeds. Stir all ingredients together.

In a separate bowl stir all sauce ingredients together. Add extra water if you need to thin more. Pour the sauce over the vegetables and mix thoroughly so the sauce covers all the vegetables.

Place in individual bowls, garnish with sesame seeds, coriander and a wedge of lime and enjoy!

No noddle pad Thai

Roast veggie salad

Ingredients:

3 potatoes washed and cut into chunks

½ sweet potato peeled and cut into chunks

¼ pumpkin washed and cut into chunks with seeds removed

4 large mushrooms cut into pieces

¼ onion thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves chopped

Handful of pinenuts

Bunch of baby spinach

Meredith goats fetta

Olive oil

Herbamare salt

Preheat oven to 220 degrees celcius

Place potatoes, onion, garlic and sweet potatoes onto a large baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 25 minutes. Then add pumpkin, drizzle with more oil and salt and mix veggies around.

Bake for another 15 minutes and add mushrooms and pine nuts. Add another sprinkle of oil and salt. Bake for another 15 minutes or until veggies are soft.

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

In a salad bowl spread out spinach. Once veggies have cooled top spinach with beautiful roasted vegetables. Sprinkle goats fetta to your liking over the top. Pour a few table spoons of the garlic infused oil from the fetta over veggies.

Top with tuna for a quick meals or use as a side to meat or fish J

Stop sugar cravings with cinnamon

Day after day I hear people complaining about their sugar cravings, how they make it so difficult to lose weight, how chocolate is all they can think about and how every month these cravings are out of control.

One of my favourite tools for reducing sugar cravings is incorporating cinnamon into the diet. Cinnamon helps to balance blood sugar levels and therefore reduce cravings. It is also a great digestive if you feel bloated after meals and is a warming herb too if you tend to feel the cold easily. Plus it tasted great too!

Here are a few of my favourite ways to incorporate cinnamon into your diet:

1.       Add to smoothies. If you enjoy a breakfast smoothie simply add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon for your daily dose.

2.       Feeling a bit chilli? Add cinnamon to your cup of tea. Simply sprinkle some cinnamon or place a cinnamon quill to soak into you hot water or tea. It goes great with both black tea and green tea.

3.       Sprinkle cinnamon over fruit for a delicious treat.

4.       Make a curry of anything (meat, chicken, chickpeas, lentils or beans) and use cinnamon as one of the spices to add flavour.

5.       Make a Middle Eastern rice pilaf using pine nuts, sultanas, turmeric and cinnamon.

6.       Mix a teaspoon of cinnamon through yogurt

7.       Add it to your green juice

8.       Make roast veggies with cinnamon sprinkled on to. Yum Yum!

There are so many fabulous ways to add cinnamon into your diet. Have any other suggestions? Feel free to post below.

Rice pillaf with cinnamon-http://www.food.com/recipe/rice-pilaf-with-cinnamon-and-golden-raisins-198781

Cinnamon roasted veggies-http://liorabels.com/kurkuma-cinnamon-roasted-root-veggies/

Cinnamon breakfast smoothie-http://dionne-healthnaturally.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/berrylicous-breakfast-smoothie.html

Nut Free Tahini Balls

With an increase in nut allergies and many strict nut free policies in schools I thought I would share a delicious recipe for nut free healthy Tahiti balls.

Recipe for Tahini balls

 *   2 tablespoons tahini

 *   2 tablespoons cacao powder

 *   3 tablespoons coconut oil

 *   ½ cup ground linseeds

 *   2 tablespoons honey

 *   1 handfuls chopped sunflower seeds

 *  1 handful chopped pepitas

 * Shredded coconut to coat balls

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl or food processor and roll into balls. Then roll in desiccated coconut. Store in fridge!