Mexican lamb shoulder with pomegranate glaze

September 3, 2015 · 33 Comments

Today I am so thrilled to share with you a recipe from Lee Holmes’ new cookbook, The Renewable Table.

I am a long-time fan of Lee and her amazing recipes. I actually think this cookbook might be her best yet (well, for time-poor mums anyway!) Lee Holmes is a certified holistic nutritionist, yoga teacher, wholefoods chef, best-selling author and a mum.

The reason I love this book so much is that the recipes use the concept of ‘continuum cooking’. I have been doing this for years and I didn’t even know there was a name for it! Basically you make one meal with extra food and then subsequent meals use components of that meal, but re-imagined into something a bit different.

As well as saving you time and money, it’s a very sustainable and eco-friendly way to cook with no wastage! Lee also gives us loads of information, shopping lists and tips on meal planning, storage, reheating and stocking the pantry. It’s designed to give you the basic skills of continuum cooking and then inspire you to make up your own ideas.

There are 50 recipes that are gluten free with some dairy free to get you inspired (and salivating).

Today I am sharing Lee’s yummy Mexican Lamb Shoulder with Pomegranate Glaze. It’s a gorgeous slow roast, full of flavour. You can then make Mexican Fajitas and Lamb Nachos with as your next two renewable meals with the leftover lamb.

Mexican lamb shoulder with pomegranate glaze

Vital Stats: gluten free, grain free, egg free, nut free

Ingredients:

4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 lemon halved and pips removed
1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt
1 tsp black pepper
2kg bone-in lamb shoulder joint
2 brown onions, cut into wedges
1 whole quorn of garlic unpeeled
1l pomegranate juice
1 lemon juiced
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp rice malt syrup
250g full fat natural yogurt
Seeds from 1 fresh pomegranate
Small handful mint leaves, chopped

Method:

To make marinade place garlic, cinnamon, cumin, oregano, lemon and rind, salt and pepper and blend until smooth. Place the lamb in a large baking dish and spoon the mixture on top and massage in with hands. Let marinate in fridge for between 2 and up to 24 hours.

Heat oven to 160°C/140°C fan/ gas 3. Place lamb into pan and garlic and onions surrounding the lamb, then pour over the pomegranate juice and lemon and apple cider vinegar.

Cover the lamb with foil and cook for approx. 4 hrs checking every hour and re basting with the juice. When ready and after four hours, remove pan from the oven and carefully remove lamb and pour juice into a saucepan on the stove over a medium heat. Replace lamb into baking tray and place back into the oven whilst you are making the syrup.

Add rice malt syrup and cook until bubbly and a thick syrup is formed adding more rice malt syrup if necessary. This should take about 20 minutes. Once it is ready, remove foil from lamb, pour it over the lamb and return to oven for 20 mins until the lamb becomes crispy on top.

To make the dressing:

In a small bowl mix yogurt, pomegranate seeds and mint. Serve lamb with dressing and a side of green vegetables.

Some other recipe books from Lee that I love and recommend:

Heal Your Gut! 5 copies to win!

October 17, 2014 · 137 Comments

So, how’s your gut?

Is it happy or is it gurgling, aching, spasming and making you ill? Do you feel fuzzy, fatigued, uncomfortable and suffering from niggling ailments? This book is for you!

The amazing Lee Holmes has done it again. Based on her own experiences with a non-specific auto immune disease and fibromyalgia, Lee is now showing us how to heal our gut with her new book, called funnily enough… Heal Your Gut!

Lee’s story is so interesting. She has ditched the prescription drugs and now lives an energetic life. All through healing the gut. Facebook told me last month that Lee turned 47. No way! She looks late 20’s. That’s enough to make me eat whatever she tells me to eat!

I am also a big fan of her book for kids, Supercharged Food for Kids as I know many of you are.

[box] “2000 years ago, Hippocrates said : All disease begins in the gut.”[/box]

The book is so easy to read and understand. No heavy science stuff (whew!) There are four parts to the book.

In part one, Lee explains about how the gut works, what candida is and how to test for it. It’s also interesting to note that gut health effects our immune system and our brain.

Part two and three are dedicated to a four phase healing and treatment protocol for a four week period. I love that Lee’s recommendations are all natural and holistic. She has great tips for supplements and herbs to use, as well as detoxing strategies like dry skin-brushing.

Part four is all about the food. There are 59 gut healing recipes from juices to bone broths, soups and dessert. Wait a minute – dessert???? Lee has icecream, custard, gelatos and puddings on this protocol. Sign me up!

Lee’s books are written in a personal style, with lots of anecdotes and stories. I love her philosophies about self love and being gentle with yourself and your body. Healing in a positive and supportive way sounds so much nicer than fighting with our bodies!

Check out Lee’s healing manifesto. A great one to print out from the book and put up on the fridge.

I am so keen to get stuck into this four week gut healing protocol. I am psyched and so ready for it after battling with candida on and off for many years. Once my holistic doctor has sorted out my adrenals, he says I am good to go.

Anybody want to take up the challenge with me?

Giveaway:

This giveaway has now closed. The lucky winners were Shannan, Fiona, Jolie, Linda and Anthea!

Want to win a copy of Lee’s book, Heal Your Gut? Lee is kindly giving five copies to you guys! Woot!

How to enter:

♥ Be a blog subscriber. Add your email to the right hand side box.

♥ Leave a comment for me on this post telling me why you want to win.

♥ Hit one or more of the social media share buttons down there and spread the healthy gut love!

Can’t wait and want the book now? Get it straight from Lee and download instantly! Go here.

[box] This giveaway runs from now until Friday the 24th of October at midnite AEST. Winners will be chosen using a random number generator from those fulfilling the entry requirements and emailed (please check your emails, especially the junk folder!) Giveaway is available worldwide, not just Australia. Good luck![/box]

I am an affiliate partner with Lee. 🙂

Supercharged Pizza

September 9, 2013 · 147 Comments

This amazing Supercharged Pizza recipe today comes from Lee Holmes and her new book, Supercharged Food for Kids.

Lee is a natural, new age mum, certified holistic health and wellness coach and a qualified wholefoods chef with a certificate in food and nutrition. She was also this year’s over-all winner of the BUPA Health Blogger Award. Her first book, Supercharged Food is one of my all time favourites. Her new recipe book is all about the kids!

The recipes are based on real, whole food that the kids are going to eat! She has converted favourites like pizza, nuggets, pasta and desserts to be super healthy. You will find recipes that are gluten free, wheat free, dairy free and sugar free, which cater for so many allergies.

As well as the recipes, Lee also provides loads of tips on how to remove sugar and processed food, a top ten nutrient army, eating for special diets and allergies, packing and presenting a creative lunchbox, a bunch of tips for busy families, a chapter on sneaking super foods into everyday kids’ meals and information on mood and concentration, energy, performance and squad food.

There are 90 cool recipes including, Cauliflower Mac and Cheese, Pirate Muesli Bars, Cacao Bomb Crackles, Cheesy Mini Tartlets, Crunchy Chicken Drummers, Rice Crispy Bars, Zoo Poo, Watermelon Ice pops, Gluten Free Pita Pockets, Savoury Breakfast Muffins and lots, lots more.

This e-book is fabulous for any parent looking for fun, easy, healthy recipes that their child will actually eat. Get them browsing with you and checking out what they would like to try. I mean seriously, what kid is not going to want to make Zoo Poo??????

I know you are all going to love this book! I thought it was so great that I joined Lee as an affiliate to help her spread the word. Click here to get your copy! You can instantly download the PDF which comes with e reader versions for your mobile devices, e book readers and kindle.

Okay, now for the food!

Supercharged Pizza

Vital Stats: Grain free, gluten free

Okay, so this is what you need:

Approx 1 1/2 cups finely ground almond meal

2 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Topping:

2 tablespoons tomato paste

105g oven-roasted tomatoes (we substituted fresh pineapple chunks)

2/3 cup grated full fat cheddar or goat’s cheese

1/2 cup chopped ham (no nitrates or additives)

sprinkling of dulse flakes (optional)

Okay, so this is how you do it:

Preheat the oven to 220°C and lightly grease a pizza pan or large baking tray. For the pizza base, put 1 1/2 cups of almond meal in a large mixing bowl, add all the other ingredients and mix until you have loose dough. If it feels wet, add a bit more almond meal and work with your hands until smooth.

Shape into a ball. Cut the dough in half and roll each portion out into a thin circle of about 15 cm, working from the inside out in a clockwise motion. Add more almond meal if it becomes too sticky. Place the two bases side by side on the prepared baking tray and place in the oven for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and spread with tomato paste, leaving a 1 cm border of dough uncovered. Scatter the cheese, ham and tomatoes (or pineapple), over the top, and sprinkle dulse flakes. Return the pizzas to the oven for another 7-10 minutes, or until glistening and crispy.

My tips: I made the base in the thermomix – just grind your almonds first, add the other ingredients and mix on reverse for a few seconds to combine it all.

Both my kids loved this pizza recipe (actually we all did). What I like most is that it really fills you up – you only can eat one or two pieces at a time! The base is so tasty and I think it would work well on it’s own with a drizzle of olive oil to serve with soup. Make up extra bases while you are there and freeze them, uncooked. You may never order another takeaway pizza again!