7 Veg Creamy Buckwheat Pasta

Do you ever get the feeling that you are well and truly on the right path? That step by step you are getting closer to your soul purpose?

Right now, in this moment. I do.

I have learnt and grown so much in the past 12 months. Our wholefoods journey has taught me so much about myself, about my relationships and about what really matters. My views have shifted and I no longer have the want or desire for expensive things. I don’t feel like I ‘need’ material things to fulfil a void in my life anymore. I’ve realised that the number one and most important thing is health. My family’s health and my health both physically and mentally come first before everything else.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately of how various people, from all walks of life come to this kind of lifestyle and get to the point in their lives where they say ‘Enough is enough’ and it’s time for a change. Most of the biography’s I have read from various health food bloggers or health advocates usually start off with telling their reason for turning to a cleaner healthier lifestyle and I notice the same three reasons appear over and over again. Either they have had a health scare that they haven’t been able to find an answer for through modern medicine so they turn to a natural way of living and start to see the incredible benefits. Or someone they are close too has either fallen sick or passed away and that ignites a motivation in them to transition their own lives. Or more commonly and in my own case, we have children and we think we are giving them the best start in life until you find out they have an allergy and we as parents try with all our might to make sure this ‘burden’ doesn’t affect their lives. For so many of us, that same burden is in turn a blessing and the beginning of a new and happier journey of awareness and food education.

So, what about the others? The ones that don’t fall into these categories and are riding through life relatively unaffected by the unhealthy choices they are making. Sure, they get their regular doctors check-ups and all seems fine. They get up in the morning and maybe don’t always feel 100% but they just put it down to having a rough sleep or a late night. What is it that’s going to be the wake up call for these people that one day the way they are treating their bodies will catch up with them?

Today at work a work colleague of mine was mocking another colleague for eating fast food, but he himself was heating up a ‘Lean Cuisine’ packaged meal whilst popping open a can of soft drink. My insides turned and I wanted so much to tell him that he may as well be eating fast food too because the garbage he is consuming is just as much of a chemical and sugar filled shit storm. Instead I bit my tongue because I am already labelled as being “a bit overboard” when it comes to food choices in the office. So if these very clever big companies have brainwashed us all into believing that their packaged processed garbage is a ‘healthy option’ how do we educate the mass into thinking otherwise. Sure enough there are lots of people learning through social media and word of mouth but what about the others, the ones who don’t follow health pages and think natural living is all ‘hippy nonsense’.

I fear that they will finally take notice when it is too late, like so many others before them?

Ingredients:

1 ½ x cups Buckwheat Spiral Pasta (I use Orgran Tummy friendly brand)
½ x Leek (Sliced Finely)
1 x cup Cabbage (chopped finely)
1 x Carrot (Finely shredded)
1 x Zucchini (Finely shredded)
½ x cup Broccoli florets (chop roughly)
½ x cup Cauliflower florets (chop roughly)
3 x large Spinach leaves (chopped finely, or a handful of baby spinach)
½ x cup Bone Broth
1 x tsp Herbamare (or seasoning of choice)
½ x tsp Coconut Butter
Sprinkle of Nutritional Yeast
2 x tablespoons Beef Tallow or Ghee for frying

 

Method:

1.       In a small pot boil your water and cook Buckwheat pasta (usually for 8 mins, but cook for only 6 minutes in the pot and remove from heat. You don’t want it soggy)

2.       In a saucepan heat up the beef tallow and throw in the Leek and cabbage. Sauté until the veg has softened and is translucent.

3.       Add into the saucepan the Cauliflower, Broccoli, Carrot, Zucchini and Spinach and sauté until the veggies begin to soften.

4.       Add in the Bone broth and stir through well. Season at this point with Herbamare or seasoning of choice.

5.       Reduce the heat and let the bone broth simmer with the lid on until it starts to reduce and thicken. Add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water into the saucepan (the starch from the buckwheat pasta will help the sauce to thicken and become creamy)

6.       Using a slotted spoon add the pasta into your saucepan to mix through the sauce. Taste the pasta, if it is too al dente place a lid on your saucepan to help steam the pasta a little further (you can use a little more bone broth or pasta water to lubricate the sauce if required).

7.       Once the liquid has reduce and the pasta is cooked and fully coated remove from heat. Add in the Coconut butter and nutritional yeast and stir through until all combined and you have a creamy consistency.

 Note: Nutritional Yeast is a highly nutritious seasoning that is usually used in vegan cuisine to add a cheesy flavour and extra vitamins. If you are not dairy free, feel free to add a sprinkle of cheese to this dish.

 My little lady absolutely adores this dish and I hope your kids do too. It really is a powerhouse of nutrients in one bowl, which I always love. Feel free to mix up the vegetables too, I think mushrooms would make a great addition in it too.

Love and Gratitude

x

Additive Free, Kids Party Treats

This week some pretty spectacular things have happened in my world, and it has been such a motivator and reaffirmed that I am on the right path. They are small gestures that mean big things to me. I’m not going to go into too much detail as I have some exciting things on the horizon and I will wait for them all to unfold before I share.

Over the past few weeks I started to lose my momentum, with this blog, with our choice of lifestyle and with my goals. I wasn’t seeing the big picture, just getting tired of the everyday grind. Then the universe sent some beautiful women my way, women that share the same passion for this lifestyle as I do, women that are trying to spread the same message, as I am. It was the nudge I needed to get my head back in the game, a little nudge from the universe telling not to give in, and to hang in there mumma, you got this!.

I have been getting so much wonderful feedback from so many beautiful mumma’s lately, I often send these blog posts out and don’t expect so many of you to actually read them and try my recipes. So thank you, for following and for your support. It is the encouragement and feedback that I get from my followers that motivates me to keep going.

I made these special treats to bring along to a 2^nd Birthday party on the weekend. I was so happy that my little lady had some treats that she could enjoy and I knew that there were absolutely no nasty colours, flavours or additives in them.

Recipe for my Additive Free Salted Caramel Chocolate Crackle cups and Paleo Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry & Coconut Frosting. 

Salted Caramel Chocolate Crackles

Ingredients:

3 x Cups Popcorn (I use Honest to Goodness brand, as they are NON GMO and Organic. I pop them in a saucepan with Coconut Oil and a pinch of Himalayan Salt)

350g Cocoa Butter (Absolute Organic brand)

1 x tbsp Coconut Cream (Honest to Goodness brand)

1 x tsp Vanilla Bean Paste 

2 x tbsp Raw Cacao

1/2 x cup Pure Organic Maple Syrup

1 x tbsp Lucuma Powder

Pinch of Himalayan Salt

2 x tbsp Raw Honey (to drizzle on top at the end)

2 x tsp Superfood for Kids powder (Optional - I added this in for extra nutrients)

Method:

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the Cocoa Butter and Coconut Cream
2. Whisk in the Vanilla Bean Paste, Raw Cacao Powder, Maple Syrup, and Lucuma Powder.
3. Pour a tablespoon at a time over your Popcorn. Stir through gently with a spatula until all popcorn is coated with the choc sauce mixture but not swimming in sauce. 
4. Season popcorn again with a pinch of Himalayan Salt (Optional)
5. Add in your superfood for kids powder to the popcorn mixture (Optional)
6. Distribute your choc popcorn into mini patty cake cups or silicone moulds 
7. (these are quite decadent even with clean ingredients, so I would stick to mini patties as too much might be a little sickly)
8. With a teaspoon, pour the leftover chocolate sauce into each patty cake cup to fill them with chocolate. 
9. With a teaspoon, drizzle a little Raw honey onto each chocolate crackle (the honey does not set, and resembles a gooey caramel sauce when you bite into it)

I poured the leftover Chocolate sauce into chocolate moulds and have stored them in the freezer. These may come in handy when we start toilet training this Spring! :)

Ingredients - Paleo Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry & Coconut Frosting:

Cupcakes:

1/2 x cup Coconut Flour

1/8 x tsp Himalayan Salt

1/2 x tsp Baking Powder (Gluten and Aluminium Free)

6 Eggs

1/2 x cup Coconut Oil

2 x tbsp Raw Honey

2 x tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

Method:

1. In a food processor, combine coconut flour, salt and baking soda
2. Pulse in eggs, honey and vanilla
3. Once combined, stir through the melted Coconut Oil (you have to work quickly with Coconut Flour and Coconut Oil, the coconut flour absorbs liquid quickly and the coconut oil solidifies in the cold)
4. Line a cupcake pan with 9 paper liners and scoop 2 tablespoons into each
5. Bake at 180 degrees for 20-24 minutes
6. Cool for 1 hour
7. Frost with my Raspberry and Coconut Frosting (recipe below)

Frosting:

1 x cup Frozen Raspberries (Preferably Organic)

1 x heaped tsp Raw Honey

1/2 x tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

2 x tbsp Coconut Cream

1 x tbsp Coconut Butter

1/4 x cup Coconut Oil

Method:

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, stew the Raspberries until they begin to breakdown and juices are released, 
2. Using a spatula push down on any lumpy raspberries so they puree and turn into a sauce.
3. Add Raw Honey and Vanilla Bean Paste to the Raspberry mixture and stir through.
4. Remove from heat and pour the raspberry mixture through a fine sieve to remove the seeds, collect the liquid in a small bowl. (You can keep the seed mixture to make Raspberry Chia Jam or add into a cake batter),
5. Using the same saucepan, over medium heat whisk together the coconut cream, coconut butter and coconut oil. 
6. Slowly add in the Raspberry puree, stirring until you reach the desired colour for your frosting. 
7. Add in a splash of Pure Maple Syrup or more Vanilla Bean paste to sweeten the frosting to your desired taste
8. Place the frosting in the fridge to cool, as it cools the frosting will thicken (be careful not to leave it too long or the coconut oil will solidify). Once you have a paste like consistency, transfer your frosting into a piping bag or use a butter knife to frost cupcakes.
9. Enjoy!!

I added the leftover raspberry puree to the remainder of the frosting and put it back on low heat, I then added in some Great Lakes Gelatin and poured the mixture into silicone moulds to make little Jelly Lollies for my little lady. She adored these.

I do hope these recipes make it to your next party. You really don't need the food colourings, flavours and additives. Its just as easy to create sweet treats with REAL ingredients without the sugar overload and crazy additive tantrums that so often come on after a birthday party.

Please leave any feedback or comments below, I promise to get back to you. 

Love & Gratitude

x

Healthy, Gluten Free Fish Fingers

I attended my first yoga class in 2 years, last night.

It felt so good to be back in the studio. With each stretch my knees cracked, my thighs burned and my breath deepened. There really is nothing as therapeutic as a good yoga session.

It just so happened that last night my instructor announced that we will be focusing on mindfulness this month. The universe definitely put me in the right place at the right time. I’ve been trying hard to me mindful lately, to pay more attention to my surroundings. To be more present in my time spent with my daughter and my husband. 

So often, we have so many things running through our minds at the same time that we become clouded and often overlook life’s simple pleasures. My little lady often teaches me to slow down. To stop and watch the leaves blow on the trees in the wind, to throw pebbles into the lake and watch them splash when they hit the water, to go outside and say good night to the moon every night even in the freezing cold. Children are so good at absorbing their surroundings.  So my mission this month is to remain mindful, and hopefully after this month it won’t be a mission anymore, but a habit.

This recipe came about on Sunday, when we had a beautiful warm balmy day in the middle of winter. We took our little lady to the beach to play and dig in the sand (it was still too cold for a swim). The smell of fresh salty air and the combination of the smell coming from the beach kiosk, called for my healthy variation of Fish and Chips. I also discovered a new fish to cook with, and it was so delicious. 

Ingredients:

1 x tbsp Pumpkin Seeds
1 x tbsp Flaxseeds
2 x strips of Lemon Rind
2 x tbsp Coconut Flour
2 x Free range Eggs
Pinch of Himalayan Salt & Pepper
2 x Wild Caught Hoki Fillets (or white fish of your choice)

Method:

1. Place the Pumpkin Seeds, Flaxseeds and Lemon Rind into a spice grinder or food processor. Process until you have a fine crumb but take it out before the oils start to release and it goes sticky. You want a dry crumb.

2. In a small bowl mix together the crumb mixture, Coconut Flour and Salt & Pepper.

3. In a separate bowl whisk your eggs, and season if desired.

4. Take your fish and cut into fingers or leave whole, dip your fish into the egg mix, than coat with the crumb mixture. I dipped mine back into the egg mixture again after it was crumbed to ensure the batter stuck.

5. Place your crumbed fish onto a baking tray, lined with baking paper and bake on 180 degrees for approx 10 minutes on each side or until your fish is cooked and your batter is crispy. Cooking times will vary depending on the type of fish you are using and the size of the fish. Be very gentle when flipping your fish, especially if using Hoki fillets, it is a very flaky soft fish and comes apart easily.

Alternatively you could shallow fry your fish in Coconut Oil to get a more authentic crunchy Fish batter.

Serve over a delicious summer salad, some sweet potato fries or steamed veggies. A lovely homemade Mayonnaise would work great or for something more simple you could drizzle a little Tahini with Lemon Juice over the top. YUM!


Love & Gratitude

x