Fresh green apple juice

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I was lucky enough to get two massive bags of green apples from a family member this year and before I made jam and pies I wanted to make some delicious fresh apple juice.

I chopped and put through about eight apples into the juicer.  You could use more or less but I had two adults and three young kids to feed.  I also added some ginger and lemon for a boost against some coughs and colds in the house just now and four sticks of cavolo Nero kale torn fresh out of the garden plot.

A delicious boost of seasonal nourishment before school and so easy to make.

Natural Coconut Water

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Natural coconut water is so simple and so refreshing.  Fill up a sports flask with coconut water and half water for pre or post workout drink, also a great drink for the summer garden.  Its Autumn here just now though and I’m drinking my coconuts indoors before I move onto hot cacao drinks mmmm…

Coconut water is a great natural electrolyte, and it contains high amounts of potassium. It is also lower in carbohydrates — It only contains about 4.5% carbohydrates, whereas typical sports drinks can contain a 6%-8% carbohydrate concentration. (Dr. Axe)

My son drank two of these after school the other day, they are expensive fresh and I cant keep up with that demand ha ha!  You can buy a good high quality coconut water from the supermarket but most of them are heat processed and I try to avoid pasturised drinks where possible, simply because pasturisation in most cases = high heat which in turn destroys some of the nutrition (not all of the nutrition though), they are still beneficial to your health in some aspects though. Coconuts are not always easy to obtain fresh though and if I cant get them fresh the pasturised stuff is second best.

Also a great addition to smoothies and deserts, some raw desserts use coconut water in the blending processes.

Here are some additional facts in the links below.

https://www.davidwolfe.com/how-coconut-water-can-help-your-body/

If you are looking to purchase coconuts in bulk, which is possible via mail, then you can purchase them in a 6 or 12 pack by clicking on the image below.  If your not using many though I would purchase a 6, I have purchased a 36!! before and they all went off before i got through half of them.

Click on the image to order coconuts

 

Blackberry (bramble) picking

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We were talking the other day on our way to a birthday party about how awesome it would be to pick some fresh and wild blackberries (brambles).  When we arrived and to our surprise out of the kitchen window there was a huge blackberry bush. I grabbed a bowl and went out to inspect.  There were loads of ripe and ready to pick brambles.  All the scratches and scrapes were worth it as we gather a massive bowl up.  When we got back I made a blackberry and apple gin which will be ready in time for Christmas and a blackberry jam for my kids.  I’m not particularly keen on high sugar content jams but I needed to preserve them quickly as they were starting to spoil only after day two after picking.  So a high heat recipe was required.

If I were to come across such treasures again I would blend them up immediately into a smoothie when I got back to my kitchen as the nutritional content of blackberries is really high and they contain all sorts of goodies like vitamins A, C, and K, magnesium, potassium, and fiber.

“Vitamin A helps maintain eye health while vitamin C promotes wound healing, keeps gums healthy and helps the body absorb iron. Vitamin K, along with magnesium, are important in promoting bone health. Potassium plays a role in health blood pressure levels. And fiber helps control cholesterol and keeps you regular.” http://www.livestrong.com/article/110325-blackberries-nutrition

If you fancy trying your hand at foraging then check out the book below with a variety of things you can find for free in the wild.  Its so satisfying to go out and find something so satisfying in the wild.

Click on the book above for some more foraging adventures.

Lemon Vit C Boost

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“The juice of a fresh-squeezed lemon in water has many medicinal values, as well as its benefits for cleansing the body, stimulating the liver, and improving digestion and elimination” http://www.waterbenefitshealth.com

Drinking lemon water is a great way to start the day!  Its a great source of Vitamin C for your body and lemons are also known for their detoxing and alkalising health benefits.  Below are some links to some articles I found online about the benefits of lemon water.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/111175-benefits-lemon-water/

http://www.waterbenefitshealth.com/benefits-of-drinking-lemon-water.html

I personally try to drink this 3-5 times a week, but I have a very busy kitchen in the morning with kids running around looking for food and we have smoothies and juices being made left, right and centre so I drink it when I can.  It really doesn’t take a lot of time to prepare and you can have it with hot water or with cold.  If its the colder months I prefer to have warm water.  After a glass of water or the lemon water above a smoothie is the next important breakfast step for us.  The kids usually have a  glass of water, or lemon water, a smoothie and some homemade bread or muffins.  Then additional fruit if we can squeeze it in.  We’re not perfect by any means but we try to get those super foods into them as much as possible.

Click on the link below for the smoothie glasses that I use for my vitamin waters, smoothies and frozen puddings.  They are fab and can also be recycled once the use is finished which is important for me.  The kids love the ones with the straws.
Click on the image above for mason jars

Spicy mushrooms with peanut slaw wraps

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I was looking for a really quick lunch fix the other day and this Asian infusion hit the spot!  Spicy mushrooms and onions with homemade peanut slaw wrapped in a corn wrap with additional spicy sauce if your brave enough.  I adapted a recipe from the book below – Rich Roll – The Plant Power Way.

Its a great book for easy family plant powered recipes and Rich Rolls story to fitness and health is very inspirational.  I’m also studying his plant powered educational course on the Mind Body Green website.  Its great for getting ideas for fueling your body for fitness and for daily meal ideas.  Click on the image to take you to his book.  Anyway back to my recipes, the ingredients are as follows…

Mini corn wraps

Mushrooms

Onions

Mini cabbages

Carrots

Peanut butter or Almond Butter

Tamari Sauce

Mirin

Rice Vinegar

Garlic Clove

Sunflower seeds

Shred the mini cabbage and the carrots and mix in a bowl, in a jar add equal amounts of soy, mirin and rice vinegar and a heaped tablespoon of peanut butter, close the jar and shake or use a small blender.  Add to the shredded cabbage and carrots and mix through.  Cook the mushrooms and onions in a little coconut oil and add a spicy sauce of choice.

Add the slaw to the corn wrap and top with mushrooms, wrap and enjoy!  Yummy! 🙂

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Courgette pancakes

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Tasty and mega simple courgette and pepper pancakes!  My kids always complain about courgettes but with a bit of good quality (next time I’ll make my own) BBQ sauce on the side these went down a treat and they didn’t even realise they were eating courgettes until the end! Lol! 😀

The inspiration for this recipe came from the Forks over Knives cookbook.  You can view and purchase the cookbook here at the link attached.
Grate two courgettes into a bowl and add 1/2 cup of wholemeal flour, finely diced red pepper and you could also add a tin of sweetcorn.  I didn’t have in the cupboard so I skipped this but would probably add it in next time for a little sweetness.  Season with salt and pepper and clump into little balls, fry in coconut oil in a non stick pan.  Serve with salad.  We had these topped with cream (soy cream) spinach sauce (recipe in the sides section) fried mushrooms and chipotle hot sauce!  We also had potatoes cooked in cauliflower cream on the side too!

Oh yummy!  😊

Two courgettes

1/2 cup of wholemeal flour

1 finely diced red pepper or colour of choice

1 small tin of sweetcorn

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The Forks over Knives plant based cooking meal plans are also available at the link below.  I have not personally tried the meal plans as I make up my own but if your new to plant based eating then I would recommend checking out the book below.

Veggie feast!

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I was so hungry tonight and in desperate need of a veggie feast after a crappy food week!  My new vitamix professional blender arrived yesterday and anyone that owns one will understand my excitement and inspiration to get cooking again.  It is an amazing machine and I’ve waited very impatiently for three years to own one…finally my blender dreams have come true ha ha ha!  Check on the picture below for a full spec.

So to give my vitamix a workout I made a cauliflower cream sauce to cook my thinly sliced potatoes and onions in the oven and topped with nutritional yeast…also know as “cheese” sprinkles in my house!  😊

Then I blended up some garlic cloves with alpro soy cream and spinach.  I cooked this lightly in the pan to create the spinach sauce for the top of the courgette fritters.  These were so simple and I made them by grating the courgettes and adding peppers and seasonings, then fried lightly in a little coconut oil.  To top it off I added some fried mushrooms in the non stick (I try to use little oil) and chipotle sauce!  The tomatoes were fresh out of the greenhouse and were super sweet on the side.

I added a huge dollop of high quality BBQ sauce and a blob of coconut oil on top of the kids potatoes for some extra fats!  I also gave them a cheeky, cacao, banana, peanut butter with a dash of soy cream on the side smoothie which they had double helpings of.

A meal full of protein, iron, vitamins and about nine different veggie ingredients, it makes me feel super happy when my kids pack themselves full of nutritious foods.  They certainly don’t all of the time, kids are kids and they are free to eat as they wish but I hope to inspire them! 😍

Superfood for super kids! 😎

All of the recipes are available in the menu and will be posted soon. 😎  I love it how blogging makes me hungry again lol!  Mmmm what to eat now…

ps – I am a vitamix blender addict now! 😊

Healthy snickers bars

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Made to order and available at my market stall.

Healthy “snickers” bar made with a cashew and coconut flour base, topped with a peanut butter caramel filling, peanuts and a thin dark chocolate drizzle.

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These bars are really filling and are a great high energy snack made with healthy and natural ingredients. I split my bars into three cubes and eat pre/post exercise or during a really long walk.  Great body fuel!

Healthy chocolate bars with almonds

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Health chocolate bars made with raw cacao powder and cacao butter, high in antioxidants and a guilt free treat!

Nourishing ingredients include, raw cacao powder, raw cacao butter, agave syrup and almonds…simple!  😊

Experimenting at the moment but hopefully will have some up on the etsy store soon.

Brazil nut cacao fudge slice

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Naughty treats!  Brazil nut cacao fudge slice made with Brazil nuts, medjool dates, cacao and coconut oil, topped with a thin layer of raw chocolate and sprinkled with coconut!

So yummy!  It’s difficult to just eat one!  Available to order online on our etsy store and sold at market.  Drop us a line through the contact form or email.