A little toothpaste experiment

We ran out of the natural toothpaste we were using so I decided to experiment with making something myself to clean out teeth with. It's super fun to try out new things especially with ingredients that I have in my own kitchen! We haven't used store bought toothpaste for ages because of the things it contains like flouride, sodium lauryl sulphite (which is found in most commercial soaps and things!) and artificial sweeteners. So far we have been ordering natural toothpaste from iherb.com online. So until I get around to buying some new toothpaste I'm excited to see how this one I made myself goes.

So here is what I did: I mixed equal parts of coconut oil baking soda together and then added some peppermint oil. Simple! Coconut is amazing for so many things and especially in a toothpaste it works great because it is antibacterial. I put the ready toothpaste in a little jar (which I have a lot of in my house for all my little projects) and brushed my teeth with some. My teeth were nice and squeaky clean. It was very refreshing due to the peppermint oil and was a little salty due to the baking soda. Maybe for someone who is used to store brought sweet toothpaste it might take a little getting used to. But as for me, I'll give my toothpaste a big thumbs up! :)

For the love of eggs

This was my lunch today: a boiled egg mixed with homemade mayonnaise and honey mustard on top of some toasted sourdough bread. I baked a whole batch of carrot sourdough bread the other week and freezed it all for lunch moments like this. I added a little homemade sauerkraut on the top of the bread too for a boost of enzymes. It was one tasty sandwich. And any egg mixture that was left over was great with some celery sticks. Eggs rule. I wish I had my own chickens.. :)

Peppermint chocolate fudge

              Cacao butter, cacao powder and peppermint chocolate fudge!

Medjool dates

If you do anything this week make sure you try this peppermint chocolate fudge. Oh my. It is so good. I'm eating some now as I write. If you like mint and chocolate this one is for you. I don't know why you would want to buy chocolate from the store any more when this raw fudge is so good. Every week I think of something healthy and sweet to make so that when I feel like something sweet I have made something ready for that moment. Being prepared is the key. This is how I never need to buy sugar filled lollies and chocolate from the shops. And I don't even even crave them because I think the things I make myself are better. Hih.

What makes this fudge divine is the raw cacao butter. Cacao butter is cold pressed from cacao beans and has this lovely chocolate smell. It adds a great flavour to any chocolate dessert and is more solid in room temperature compared to coconut oil so it hardens up chocolate more. It can be a bit pricey so I usually only use a little at a time.

Peppermint chocolate fudge
50g raw cacao butter
1 tbls coconut oil
12 soft dates
2 tbls raw cacao powder
Peppermint essential oil

Put the cacao butter and coconut oil in a bowl and melt them by adding a bowl of hot water underneath. This way it will melt slowly and not reach too high of a temperature. If your cacao butter pieces are big you can grate them beforehand to get them to melt faster. Add raw cacao powder to melted cacao butter and coconut oil and a drop or two of peppermint oil. Take the pits out of the dates and begin with you hands or a fork to mush them. Add the dates to the mixture and start to mix/knead/squeeze through hands until the dates are combined. It should become like a soft ball of dough. Then press into a container and put in the fridge or freezer until it hardens up. Cut up into pieces then enjoy!

(This recipe makes a small batch and I store it in my freezer. I usually add 2 drops of peppermint essential oil to my fudge. You can add less or more depending on what you like. I also think you could make this in a food processor. I haven't tried yet, so far I've just used my hands and gotten messy.)

Time for some butter

Butter is good for you! Lets all eat some butter today:)

Organic hairdressers

An organic salon. Does this even exist? You bet! Last week I went to the hairdresser and came out so happy. I had forgotten what nice hair looked like! Going to the hairdressers is such a luxury at this time in my life and the last time I had done anything to my hair was last Christmas.. 8 months ago. And that was when my mum was here and she cut my hair. (Love having a hairdresser mum.)  I am so happy that I found a really really good hairdressers here in Sydney. Last year I searched on google for natural organic hairdressers in Sydney. I search google for different things often and call lots of places looking for better alternatives to all things in health. It's too easy to go mainstream and follow the crowds without thinking ;) There are few natural salons around Sydney and as this is such a big city I was so lucky one happened to be quite close. It's called Salon Dimensions and it's in Terry Hills. The salon is beautiful and they use all natural and organic products. I love looking at all their organic shampoos and styling products and they have natural makeup too. The best thing is that their hair colours don't contain toxic chemicals like ammonia. It smells nice in the salon without all the toxic fumes you usually associate with hairdressers. And best of all the prices are very very competitive! I paid less that what I see advertised in most other salons. Oh yeah and they even had a natural beauty magazine that I could read too while my hair was getting done:) Perfect for me! I think its a good idea to spend a little time sourcing out a good toxic free hairdressers. One that doesn't have a bad effective on the environment due to the chemicals they use and one that is safe for you too. Your body absorbs whatever is put it and for me it's a great feeling to know I'm treating body with love and respect.

Coconut oil: How I use it

Coconut oil is one of my most precious and loved foods in the kitchen. It has just so many health benefits and I use it for so many things. It is one of natures amazing natural gifts to us that our bodies just love and thrive on. Coconut oil is a tropical oil and consists mostly of saturated fat. We have been bombarded for years that a low fat diet is healthy and saturated fat is bad for you. BUT there is lots of research that says the exact opposite. Saturated fat is essential to our health and our body needs it to grow and function properly! Things like coconut oil, butter and fats from grass fed animals is what cultures around the world have traditionally been eating.

I first got into coconut oil when I was a teenager and our family changed our diet to a more healthy one. One of the things we started eating was coconut oil. My mum used to always have organic extra virgin coconut oil at home which we used for cooking and baking. Good quality coconut oil is processed in a way that doesn't alter it's health properties and keeps it raw, which means it has not been processed with high temperatures.

Here are the ways I use coconut oil in my home. You can be creative and come up with different ways to add it into your food and life <3

Cooking 
Coconut oil can be used in cooking to replace other oils. Coconut oil one of the best oils to cook because it can stand high temperatures and doesn't go bad when heated. I use it in frying, to saute vegetables and in baking. Cookies and cakes taste great with it.
Smoothies
Add a tablespoon to your favourite smoothie in the blender. Mmmmm. I like to add a good fat like coconut oil to a fruit smoothie to balance out the sugars in the fruit.
Raw chocolate and desserts
Use it to make raw desserts and chocolates. For example: Coconut oil, avocado, banana, honey and cacao powder blended together makes a wonderful healthy chocolate mousse. Or by mixing coconut oil, honey and cacao powder you can make an lovely sweet chocolate frosting for cakes and other things!
Body and face moisturiser
I use it all the time on my skin as a moisturiser. A little bit goes a long was and your skin will love it. Plus coconut oil is naturally anti bacterial!
Makeup removal
Coconut oil is perfect for this and it nourishes you skin at the same time too. With some cotton it wipes off eye makeup and anything other makeup real easy. Who needs chemical makeup removers anyways?
Skin cleansing
Without writing a whole post on this, you can use coconut oil to cleanse your skin. Google 'Oil cleansing method' if you want more info. Basically because oil dissolves oil, coconut oil can be used to cleanse and draw out impurities in the skin. Massage some coconut oil all over skin or face for a few minutes and put a warm towel over and leave for a minute. Then wipe off coconut oil and rinse skin with water.
Hair treatment 
I put a tiny bit into the ends of my hair after a shower. Nourishes the hair and makes it nice and soft. Definitely a great way to use coconut oil.
Straight from the jar
And last of all.. I just eat it off the spoon! Coconut oil is a great source of quick energy.

Check out this link for some more info on the benefits of coconut oil:
http://wellnessmama.com/2072/the-many-benefits-of-coconut-oil/

Lunch with the girls

The other week I had two gorgeus girls come over to make some yummy and healthy food. It was so fun we will have to do it again. Nothing like real food and real beautiful friends. We made a quinoa tuna salad and a banana coconut smoothie. I only recently discovered young coconuts and am in love with them at the moment and usually buy one every week. I have to get my hubby to open them for me because they are pretty hard to open. The young coconuts have lovely sweet water in them which is supposed to be really good for you. So to make a smoothie we just blended the coconut water and the flesh that we scraped out from the coconut in a blender with a banana. As for the quinoa salad it was really easy and I have made this salad again heaps of times since having the girls here. We used white quinoa but black and red work great too or a mix of them all. We just added the things I had in the kitchen at the time like lettuce, cucumber and tomato but basically you can put whatever you want in the salad. A roasted pumpkin and rucola version is super good. Oh yeah and the yoghurt makes it all nice and creamy!!

Quinoa salad
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup natural yoghurt
125g tuna
Juice of half a lemon
Lettuce, cucumber, tomato, avacado
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Sourdough crackers

Crunchy and out of the oven 

Mixing in butter and oregano to the dough

 

Ready!

It's cracker time. With my sourdough starter baby that is now part of the family I have been making all sorts of things with it. One of them is these sourdough crackers. I like them because they are easy to make and nice and crunchy. I eat them on their own or with a dip like hommus. I don't have a specific recipe, I just go with the flow. But they are so easy I don't think you can go wrong. All I did was take some sourdough starter and mix enough flour to make it a stiff dough. Then I let it sit overnight in the kitchen in a covered bowl or for at least 8 hours. The next day I just kneaded some butter into the dough and then rolled the dough out very thinly. I put it on the baking sheet and cut into little squares and added some salt and herbs ontop. You can also brush the crackers with some olive oil before putting in the oven. Then I just baked them in the oven until crispy!

Cookie time

Ready with some lemon icing!

About to go in the oven..

It's saturday today and that means I have time to do fun stuff in the kitchen. Weekends are lovely because I usually have time to cook and try out new things. I really felt like cookies today so I whipped up some of these real quick!

These cookies are only sweetened with honey and are made from almonds. They smell like gingerbread cookies. I whiz up almonds in my blender to make my own almond meal. I made some lemon icing from coconut oil, honey and lemon juice to put on top. You just have to wait for the cookies to cool down before putting on the icing. I debated whether to make chocolate icing using raw cacao powder instead of lemon. But lemon won today. It will be chocolate's turn next time:)

I didn't know what to call these. Almond cookies? Spice cookies? Anyways, here is the recipe for super yummy cookies:

1 cup almonds
1 tbls flax seeds
2 tbls butter or coconut oil
2-3 tbls honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnammon
1 tsp ginger
1/2  tsp cardomon
1/2  tsp cloves
1/2 tsp baking soda

Blend almonds and flaxseeds into a fine powder. You can leave it more coarse if you want a more nutty dough. Add rest of ingredients and mix with hands so that the butter becomes soft and it all forms a sticky dough. Roll into small balls and press flat onto baking sheet. Wet your hands if the dough is sticking to your fingers too much. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye of them as they brown quickly!

 Makes about 16 cookies

Colourful breakfast

I had to quickly take a photo of my breakfast. Aren't the colours pretty? I love my scrambled eggs! I just mix some eggs with a fork with a little water and herbs and onions and scramble it in the fry pan with heaps of butter. Oh yeah and I love my butter. It's what people have always traditionally been eating and beats margarine any day nutrition and health wise.
I have been trying to eat different fermented foods so I made some of my own tomato salsa, which proved to go super well with the scrambled eggs. I have also been making some beet kvass lately which is basically fermented beetroot juice and is a wonderful health tonic. Can't wait to have a juicer one day too so I can have fresh veggie juice as well... *dreaming* .. :) I really like the taste of beetroots so beet kvass is just my thing. I just mix a little into my glass of water most mornings.

Sourdough Bread!

There is some joy in the kitchen because I am so excited that I have made my very own loaves of sourdough bread!!! Oh the feeling. And they were edible too which is also important ;) It is such an exciting step for me because I have been wanting to try baking my own sourdough bread and get a sourdough starter going for ages.. I wasn't sure if I would succeed. I have seen so many other real foodies on their blogs talk about how the make their own sourdough and have seen all these yummy recipes you can make with excess sourdough starter. I kept imagining freshly baked bread coming out from oven.. mmm.

Real sourdough bread (not the wannabe ones you probably find in most shops) is a traditional way of baking bread. Today in this 'I want it now' culture I feel we have swapped traditional nourishing ways of preparing food with quick alternatives which are no where near as good for our bodies. Commercial yeast, refined flours, rancid vegetable oils and lots of preservatives are basically what breads today are made from. Sourdough bread only needs water, flour, some starter and sea salt. Here is a lovely blog were you can see some of the benefits of why to eat sourdough:)
http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2010/03/05/food-for-thought-health-benefits-of-sourdough/

The first step was to get a sourdough starter going. I tried this in the summer time and got one going after my third try with some rye flour. I was squealing with joy when I noticed after a few days the starter had doubled in size and was nice and bubbly! You see to make a starter you mix flour and water together and feed it a mixture like this every day and after a while it should start to bubble because of the wild yeasts and bacteria. I'm not sure how the chemistry of this all works but anyways this is how a sourdough starter is formed and you use some in the bread to make it rise and sour the bread. How cool is that!  Well my first starter lasted a week and ended up dying and I couldn't get another one going since. I wasn't sure if the temperature in my kitchen was not right of the flour I was using wasn't fresh enough. But recently I decided not to give up and and tried again and this time added a tablespoon of milk kefir whey to the mixture. I had read in places that this helped get the yeasts and bacteria in the starter going. And it worked!! This starter I have now  is made from wholemeal spelt flour. I have some in a little jar and feed it every day the same amount of flour and water that is in it. After a few days as it grows I have enough to make some bread and then save a little to start the process over again.

I can't wait to to dive into the world of making sourdough bread and learn how to become a real bread master haha. I use this seriously easy recipe from my Nourishing Traditions book which is essentially a no knead method and doesn't take much time at all. I do my work then leave the bread to do it's magic.

Apricot muesli bars

I made a big batch of these the other week to take with me to college and for Jaakko's coffee moments when he wants something sweet. I don't know if you can call them muesli bars but that's the closest thing they were for me! I even cut then into muesli bar slice sizes how cool is that.

Here's something interesting. A great thing i've learnt over the past year is soaking seeds and nuts. Because I have a dehydrator I soak my almonds and sunflower seeds in salty water overnight and then dehydrate them so that they are crispy again. This is the best way to get the most nutrients from nuts and seeds and make them more digestible. In my Nourishing Traditions book it explains how nuts and seeds contain enzyme inhibitors. Soaking in salt water activates the enzymes that neutralize the enzyme inhibitors and makes the nutrients more availabe. You can also dry nuts in seeds in the oven at a low heat after soaking them.

Another great addition to these is dried apples! See if you can find dried apples and apricots without those nasty sulphur presrvatives.

Apricot muesli bars
Handful of dates pitted
Handful of dried apricots
Handful of almonds
1 Tbls sunflower seeds
A pinch of cinnamon

Pulse the nuts and seeds first in the food processor. Then add everything else and mix until a sticky ball texture. Press out onto baking paper (so it doesn't stick) in a square or rectangular container/tin to desired thickness. Freeze or put in fridge until firm and cut into pieces.
I keep mine stored in the freezer. They are nice and chewy and are best when straight from the freezer or fridge!

Essential oils

Hello!

Today I made sure I bought some new batteries for my camera so I can have it ready in the kitchen to snap a picture of everything as it happens as a lot goes on around here:) And the foods I make sometimes get eaten before I have a chance to take a photo. I thought I'd share with you my latest two essential oils that I bought, tea tree and sweet orange. Essential oils are slowly joining my family and I am finding ways to use them more and more. My number one favourite way of using them at the moment is for cleaning floors. I put some hot water in a large bowl and add a few drops of an essential oil in the water and use this to wipe the floors in the bathroom and kitchen. So simple and leaves a nice scent. Another thing I'm going to do is make my own body and hair mist. I have this organic patchouli-sweet orange mist in this cute little spray bottle I bought a while ago. I looked at the ingredients and was like I bet I could make that myself! So when it is empty I'll take the bottle and fill it with some filtered water and a few drops of my own essential oils. And maybe I'll hunt down some vegetable glycerin to make it uber cool.

Over the past few years I've been moving away from using cleaning products that are toxic and contain harmful ingredients. I mean it just doesn't make sense to "clean" with toxic chemicals now does it? I've found lots of good natural non toxic products by looking around and knowing my ingredients. And I have also started making my own by using things that most of us have our kitchen. For example a few drops of essential oils in a water and white vinegar mixture makes a great all purpose cleaner. I use this for wiping cupboards, doors, getting rid of mold and and cleaning the shower. Oh, and don't forget baking soda! I love baking soda. It cleans all sorts of things and can be used for so many purposes.

If you have any ideas or ways you like to use essential oils add a comment and let us all know!

Love Katja

Lacto-fermented Honey Dill Mustard

My own little jar of honey dill mustard.

I came across this recipe at GNOWFGLINS and it looked so good I went straight away and bought some mustard powder, got some fresh dill from the garden and got out my raw honey to whip up this tasty loooking sauce. And boy was it good!! And super easy to make. I have already made my second batch and it was a perfect amount to put in a little jar that previously had store bought mustard in it.. mine is so much better:) The hardest bit is letting it sit on the counter for 3 days. It smells so tasty and I can't wait to use it so I have to stop myself from constantly opening the lid and smelling it and looking at it.

Lately I've been experimenting in the world of fermenting. Fermenting is a traditional way of preserving foods and boosting their nutrient availability. Fermented foods are more easily digested plus full of healthy bacteria and enzymes for the digestive sysytem. By putting vegetables in salt or whey with some water and letting it sit in room temperature for a few days lets the sugars and starches convert into lactic acid, which is friendly bacteria. Modern store and processed foods lack beneficial bacteria and nutrients due to processing, pasteurization and using vinegar instead. That's why it's time to get back to traditional ways of preparing food like our ancestors did:) So far I've fermented lots of beetroots since they are my favourite. I have also made some pickles once but I didn't like them too much so I still have to work on them..

Making some ginger carrots and beetroot today. About to be put in jars and left to ferment!

Lacto-fermented Honey Dill Mustard
This mustard is nice and spicy and makes sandwiches taste heavenly. It is also great in mayonnaise and in salad dressings especially. If you don't like garlic you can leave it out of the recipe. Check out the link above for the original recipe as there is a apple cider vinegar version that is not lacto fermented.

1/2 cup mustard powder
3 tablespoons whey
2 tablespoons water
5 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
4 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 small garlic clove chopped up finely

Mix everything together in a bowl and then put into a glass jar with a lid. Let it sit on the kitchen counter in room temperature for 3 days then put in the fridge.

Broccoli salad

Time to eat some raw broccoli!

We had this for lunch the other day and with dinner tonight. I love new ways of eating raw veggies. I used mayonnaise that I had made myself (check my last post!) and the apple in the salad makes it really nice. I never used to like fruits in salad but apple is such a good addition in creamy salads like this.

1 head of broccoli
1 apple
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
1 tbls raw apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
1 handful of alfalfa sprouts

Chop up broccoli into small pieces. I used the stems and cut them into small pieces as well. Add apples that have been cut into small pieces, thinly sliced onion rings and alfalfa sprouts. Mix together with mayonnaise and apple cider vinegar. Add a little salt and pepper.

Homemade Mayonnaise

One of my sisters is a cook and she would make mayonnaise from scratch to put in potato salads. I thought if she can do it I should give it a try too! There's nothing better than fresh homemade mayonnaise. You don't need to worry about all the sugar, additives and the vegetable oils they use to make it in the store. That's why I love making things myself because I can choose what ingredients to use and make sure they are good quality and healthy. I use extra virgin olive oil in my mayonnaise recipe. It gives it a distinctive taste and more yellow colour and we love it. I usually make double this recipe because then it makes enough to put in one glass jar. Oh yeah, I love glass jars I collect them for all sorts of things as the are great to store things in!

And if you want to be cheeky I've also added how to make your mayonnaise lacto-fermented! Lacto-fermented means that your mayonnaise will last for longer and it contains enzymes good for your digestive system.

Mayonnaise
2 egg yolks
1 tsp dijon mustard
2tbls lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar
1 tsp raw honey
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Himalaya salt and pepper

Make sure the eggs and all ingredients are at room temperature when you start. Put the egg yolks and everything else except the oil in a bowl and whisk until mixed together. Start adding the oil one drop at a time and whisk. After a while you can start adding a little bit more oil in each turn while whisking. At the end add a little salt and pepper to taste.

You can do it!

Lacto-fermented mayonnaise
Mix 1tbls of whey in finished mayonnaise and let it sit on kitchen counter in room temperature for 7-12 hours. Then store in fridge.

Whey: Put a coffee filter in a sieve on top of a bowl and put a few tablespoons of yoghurt in the coffee filter. Let it sit for a few hours and the bowl will collect clear white liquid -this is whey!

P.S. the yogurt then becomes a bit like cream cheese as it thickens so you can use it to make spreads and dips or use it like a thicker Greek style yogurt.

Curried cauliflower rice

Cauliflower stole the show at dinner last night. Dinner was super yummy. (And that in the picture was only my first serving haha). Salmon, Asparagus stir fried in butter with garlic, sprout salad and curried cauliflower rice. The cauliflower looks like couscous and tasted awesome. I was so excited with this new creation that I think i'm gonna be making it alot because it was so good. All I did was put cauliflower pieces in the food processor and pulsed it into small pieces. Then I fried it on a pan with some coconut oil, onion, turmeric powder, curry powder, cumin seeds, black pepper and himalaya salt. You have to try it! Oh yeah and squueze a little lemon juice on top, delicious.

Flu fighting

I've been sick with the flu for the last few days and have been resting to the max. Sleep is the best. Today I sat outside in the sun for a while, it's warmth and light just always makes me feel happy.

I also made a smoothie this afternoon, it was a real random one today with everything I could find I put in. Thought I'd try some parsley in there too for the first time since we always have some growing in our garden.

Avocado, coconut oil, parsley, banana, rock melon, orange, hempseeds, flax seeds and some green powder. Was lovely and so was drinking one with hubby who loved it too.

Here are a few of my friends.

-Thieves Essential Oil Blend by Young Living. My lovely aunty in Tasmania got me into these when we were there, I love it. I take a drop onto my tongue. It's antibacterial and supports immune system.

-Amla berries. Contain naturally a lot of vitamin C. It's a wholefood vitamin c source, not synthetic or isolated.

-Awesome green powder, has probiotics and enzymes in it. The digestive system plays a huge role in our immune system so good bacteria is important.

Creamy basil dip

Yesterday one of my beautiful friends came over and she is also real food loving chick. We have lots of basil growing in our garden so I made some of this basil dip to put on our sandwiches. It is seriously yummy and makes any sandwhich delicious:) And its green, I love bright green things. The key is to make it taste just how you like it. Not tangy enough? Add more apple cider vinegar. More sweetness? Add some more honey. Too sweet? Add some more salt.

1/2-1 cup of Cashews or Macadamia nuts

3tbls extra virgin olive oil

2tbls raw apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1 tsp raw honey

1 garlic clove

Himalaya salt, black pepper, chili powder

Handful of basil leaves

Mix everything in the blender with a tiny bit of water until a smooth paste. If too runny add more nuts and if to thick add a bit more water.

Mineral makeup and mini health conference

Yay, I just got some new mineral makeup in the post from organicbeautyworld.com. I love the Inika mineral makeup, it's 100% mineral makeup with only a few ingredients and that is all you need! It lasts for a long time too, it took me way over a year to use this little container. When I threw out all my makeup the other year in pursuit for something without nasty chemicals I started researching all about real mineral makeup and came across Inika. I'm the type of person that will reasearch the best possbile options and I like to know all my ingredients! I never trust companies who decide on my behalf what is safe. The skin absorbs everything and so I like to be real careful what I feed my skin:)

On Sunday I also spontaneously went to listen to Philip Day speak at the rsl club here in Dee Why. He has written heaps of books on health and is a raw foodie person. I loved it so much!! I had been praying that I would get to go to some health conferences here while in aus and this was my first little touch. I was so inspired and excited just listening to how passionate he is about what he believes and he was real funny too. I admire his boldness in speaking out against the big food companies, health systems, drug companies and basically lots of other things that you know you are picking a fight with if you decide to address what they are up to. I was just reminded once and again how wonderful the human body is! We are error correcting systems with all these amazing, complex cells working in our body. And so that's why I want to feed my body with the right fuel and give it everything it needs as it capable of healing itself. Quality food is so important:)

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well. "

Psalm 139:14

Banana Bread made with almonds

I made banana bread twice this week and even put a few pieces into the freezer for a nice surprise some day when we want something yummy. I had a lovely friend over and so I made one loaf to share with her with a cup of tea and then yesterday I decided to make another loaf because, well, just because I wanted to! And you would never guess this recipe is grain free, the texture is just wonderful and like real banana bread. I'll also post another banana bread recipe that I recently tried with soaked spelt flour. We just love banana bread and so it's fun coming up with healthy options that don't have white flour, refined sugar and other things our bodies don't really like:)
This banana bread recipe is based on Teressa Cutter's recipe. She runs The Healthy Chef cafe in Avalon which is our favourite cafe to go to! I made a few of my own adjustments to this recipe. Coconut oil is my fav for cooking as it can stand high heats in cooking and so I use it in this recipe. Also I just love coconut oil! Cold pressed extra virgin coconut oil does amazing things for your health. I use it in smoothies and on my skin and hair too. I'm a big fan of getting lots of good quality healthy fats into our diet.
Usually I make this without any added sugar and then put some raw honey on top once its out of the oven. Today I had some rapadura sugar on hand and thought i'd make it a special sweet version this time. It's so yummy with some butter on top.

2 cups ground almonds
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
3 bananas
1/4 cup rapadura sugar
2 tbls coconut oil
1tbls lemon juice + 1/2 tsp bicarb of soda

I blend the whole almonds in my blender with the flax seeds into a fine consistency which is super easy. You can also use almond meal. Put into a bowl and add cinnamon.
Mix the bananas, eggs, rapadura and coconut oil together. I do this in my blender too so it is nice and smooth. Then add the lemon juice+bicarb soda to the banana mixture. I do this at the last minute because the lemon juice activates the bicarb.
Mix banana mixture into ground almonds and flax seeds. Pour into a bread loaf tin thingy (or whatever you call it) that has been oiled with coconut oil and sprinkled with almond meal. I bake mine in the oven for about 45mins- 1 hour and check with a fork when it's done. If it starts to brown on the top I put some foil over it.
Take out of the oven and wait until it has cooled down a bit then tip out of tin.

Raw cacao and date balls

These are so easy to make you have to try. And all you need is a food processor and maybe 5 minutes? These are quick to make! I have a cute little food processor that was super cheap and works great for just what I need.

Dates are naturally so sweet there is no added sweeteners in this recipe, yay! And raw cacao powder is amazing. Normal cocoa powder in shops has been processed and heated at high temperatures. Raw cacao powder on the other hand is full of antioxidants, magnesium and gives you a kick of energy. You can find it health shops or online stores like iherb.com.

You can't go wrong with making these, I don't have any set amounts of the ingredients. Just go with what I think is good and add more of something if I want. Tasting along the way is my secret to all the things I do. I start with about 8 pitted dates, a small handful of nuts and probably a tablespoon of raw cacao powder. Other great additions are lucuma powder (another great superfood from south america) and goji berries.

Dates
Nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts.. whatever you want!)
Raw cacao powder
Coconut

Take the pits out of the dates and mix everything in the food processor. It will be a sticky mixture, so sometimes it helps to crush the nuts first if you want a less chunky texture. Roll into balls and then roll in coconut. Keep them in the fridge.

Raw kale chips

Raw kale chips are the new snack as they are perfect for that moment when I want something salty and crispy! They don't last long around our house. I had never eaten kale before I tried these and believe me these are so good that you'll fall in love with them, even though they are bright green. My version has raw honey and apple cider vinegar in it, but a basic version of olive oil and salt also tastes great.

1 bunch of kale
Extra virgin olive oil (2-3 tbls)
Raw apple cider vinegar (1 tbls)
Raw honey (1tsp)
Himalaya salt

Wash the bunch of kale and rip off pieces of the leaves into a big mixing bowl. The kale pieces go smaller when they dry so you can leave them kind of big. I usually don't use the stems, only the leaves. Mix in all the ingredients and use you hands to toss around the kale leaves in it all. Have a little taste and see if you want to add anything. Put in dehydrator over night to dry at 40 degrees max because drying things under this temperature retains the nutrients and enzymes. Check in the morning to see if they are crispy and if they are, they are ready to eat. Too easy!

I've heard you can also do these in the oven if you keep it on a low heat. I picked up my dehydrator for 30 dollars during the holidays and it works great for raw kale chips and drying all sorts of other yummy snacks. You can spice these kale chips anyway you want, add as much salt as you like and other spices that you think would be great. I store these kale chips in a glass jar with a lid and if they loose their crunchiness I just pop them back in the dehydrator for a moment.

Munch munch munch!

Nourishing Traditions

Ooh I am one lucky girl, I just got this book in the mail!! Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I've heard a lot about this book and so many people refer to her recipes that I had to get my own copy of this book. You gotta love what it says on there, "The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats" ..sounds like my type of book indeed! Time to bust myths and get the real deal. It's nice to have a real book to read because I'm always reading blogs and things on the internet. It is full of recipes (heaps and heaps!) and a good load of info about food based on research. Also it focuses on food preparation like fermenting foods, culturing dairy and soaking/sprouting nuts and grains. The author Sally co-founded the Weston A. Price Foundation which gives wonderful guidelines as to eating and living healthy. Worth checking out! Raw/Living food and Weston Prices teachings are mainly what I have combined together as to my own approach to eating. I am a back to basics and cooking from scratch type of girl: No processed food for me:)

Sunday markets

Every Sunday morning I am down at the farmers markets in Frenchs forest at 7.45am. It's something I treasure here in Australia with the sun shining and the nice warm weather (well atleast for the time being) to be able to go out and get some fresh, local, organic produce all year round. I can't help but smile, somehow I just love going there and look forward to it every week. It runs from 8-1 but I make sure I get in early because it gets busy and I want to get in first. I want their to be some carrots and apples left for me! Heh. Most of the produce sold there is organic and I usually get all our weeks veggies and some fruits from the markets. Other things I occasionally buy is coconut oil, dates, nuts, dried fruit, sourdough and organic grass fed meat. Its fun checking out prices and seeing whats in season and so on. There are so many other stalls too with all sorts of things that I never have time to go look at everything.. sprouts, herbs, plants, seeds, body care products, juices, raw food treats..



Don't you love how people come with baskets? It's like the good old fashioned days.

These guys are so friendly and sometimes they have kids helping them. Their wonderful sourdough goes quick. My fav is the the organic whole grain spelt with sprouted barley. Their green drink is great too!

A journey into my kitchen

It's time to start giving real food the love it deserves! Natural, nourishing and organic wholefoods. That is what this blog is all about. Anyone who knows me will know I'm a bit excited to be starting this food blog because I've been talking about doing this for quite a while. Finally I couldn't contain myself any longer, it is so exciting discovering new things that I want to share it with you all. Or at least with those who are prepared to become a bit crazy about real food too. Anyways I'll be posting lots of yummy recipes and photos of the things I get up to in my kitchen plus lots of juicy information on living healthy. I hope you enjoy xx