A healthy Easter basket for kids

March 8, 2018 · 1 Comment

A healthy Easter basket for kids

Easter is here yet again and I thought I would share with you some healthy, ethical and natural ideas for the kids’ Easter baskets.

I know Easter can be one of those occasions that can easily become excessive and overly commercialised. Dealing with family members and outside influences that don’t support your healthy choices can be very stressful. Check out my hints on how to navigate this with humour and grace.

What family traditions do you have for Easter? What are you putting into baskets? Let us know in the comments.

♥ The Basket

Finding a gorgeous basket you can re-use year after year is a great eco-friendly option. You can also have a hunt around the house for some boxes, bags, tins or baskets you could upcyle, decorate and use!

♥ Ethical Woven Seagrass

I love this biodegradable, hand-made, woven seagrass basket for a simple reusable option. You can embellish with ribbons or wind some pom poms around the top to get a different look every year. You can also reuse it for storage around the home and pop it in the compost when it’s getting ratty.

Get it here.

♥ Handmade, personalised baskets

Head over to Etsy to see a huge range of handmade Easter baskets. Many can be personalised making them a gorgeous gift. Check it out here.

♥ Chocolate

I am a huge advocate for fair-trade and ethical chocolate. If you are not buying something you know is fair-trade, then chances are child slavery is involved in the cacao production. You can get a good range and always be assured that the chocolate is fair-trade and ethical here.

♥ Boobook Chocolate Eggs

These Boobook eggs are caramel filled and chocolate coated. Organic, gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan, they are new to Loving Earth. A whopping half of the profits will go to The Great Forest National Park campaign. Get them here on sale!

♥ Moo-Free Rosie Rabbit

Rosie is a vegan, organic, dairy free, gluten free, soy free choccy rabbit. Moo Free also do larger chocolate Easter Eggs as well. Find them here.

♥ Gingerbread Rabbits

I am a long time lover of these gingerbreads. Hand-made in the Blue Mountains, Karen and Dom lovingly create great quality food in compostable packing. These bunnies are gluten-free, nut-free, egg-free, palm-oil free, vegan and contain no artificial weird stuff. They also come in chocolate.

Find them here.

♥ Oscar the Orangutan

These cute little Oscar bars are organic, gluten free, dairy free, palm oil free, refined sugar free, vegan and ethically made. Five cents from every bar goes to The Orangutan Project, to help conserve orangutans and their habitat. They also come in white chocolate flavour. Find them here.

♥ Easter toys and gifts

♥ Easter Bilby Book

Any excuse for a new book is a good idea in my book! This Easter Bilby book from Aussies Nette Hilton and Bruce Whatley. is so charming and will make a lovely family tradition. Get it here in hard back or soft cover.♥ Jack ‘n Jill Bunny Toothbrush

Look I am just being practical here! 😀 Good teeth brushing is important after the Easter chocolates, so make it fun with this cute bunny tooth brush from Jack ‘n Jill. It’s also completely bio-degradable and toxin-free. Find it here.

♥ Peter Rabbit money box

We have some of these gorgeous Wedgwood Peter Rabbit pieces. They make a lovely heirloom gift and they also come in bowls and cups too. Check them out here.

You could also add some small things to the Easter baskets like crayons, colouring books, crystals and small wooden toys.

Want some more Easter ideas?

Healthy homemade Easter eggs

Healthy Hot Cross Buns

Healthy Easter ideas

Cool ideas for Easter that aren’t chocolate

Your complete guide to a healthy Easter

Pecan Salted Caramel Truffles

May 31, 2016 · 7 Comments

Oh my goodness, these are so amazing.

These Pecan Salted Caramel Truffles taste a bit like caramel lollies! I came across a Nakd food bar in my supermarket last month and the only ingredients were dates and cashews. It was so delicious and so caramely, it inspired me to add some more of my favourite ingredients and make these truffles. Well, they are sort of a bliss ball, but taste a bit more decadent so I called them a truffle.

Hope you like them as much as we do!

Pecan Salted Caramel Truffles

Vital Stats: gluten free, grain free, vegetarian, vegan, egg free, paleo

This is what you need:

1 cup organic cashews

1 cup organic medjool dates (or you can use dried dates, just soak in hot water and drain well)

1/2 cup organic pecans

1/8 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt (or a tad more if you like it salty)

1/2 scraped organic vanilla pod (or any sort of vanilla you have)

This is how to do it:

Take the pits out of the dates (important!). Throw the dates into a strong food processor or thermomix with the cashews, salt and vanilla and blend until they just start to come together in a ball. Be careful – if you overprocess, they will go weird and shed oil.

Now add in the pecans and just pulse until they are chopped up a little. I like to see the pecan bits still in there. Roll into small balls and pop in the fridge or freezer to store. But I can tell you now they taste good straight up!

Please let me know if you try the Pecan Salted Caramel Truffles and what you thought!

Want more?
Try these Ten Amazing Bliss Ball Recipes

10 Zesty Lemon Recipes

August 14, 2015 · 5 Comments

10 Zesty Lemon Recipes

Lemons are a universally loved fruit and feature in cuisines all over the world.

They are so versatile – you can use them in sweet or savoury meals, drinks and baking. Never ever throw away a squeezed lemon because you can use them for cleaning too.

A glass of hot water with lemon in it is a great habit to get into as soon as you get up.

Here are ten amazing recipes from whole foodies around the internet (and me). Enjoy!

♥ Lemon Yoghurt Cake by Natural New Age Mum

♥ Coconut, Lemon Chicken Soup by Jo at Quirky Cooking

♥ Lemon, Honey and Thyme Sorbet by Emma at My Darling Lemon Thyme

♥ Lemon Squares by Collette at Cut out the Crap

♥ Lemony Balls by Monique at The Nourished Psychologist

♥ Flourless Lemon and Plum Pudding by Kelly at Bonnie Delicious

♥ Chicken with Fennel, Apple and Lemon from Eleanor at Petite Kitchen

♥ Lemon Macadamia Cookie by Georgia at Well Nourished

♥ Raw Lemon Coconut Butter by Jules Galloway, Naturopath

♥ Lemon Butter Chicken by Damn Delicious

♥ Grow a mini lemon tree for the yummy smell!

Do you have a kick-ass lemon recipe??? Leave us a link!

Roasted Cauliflower

May 14, 2015 · 5 Comments

I love cauliflower!

It’s one of those really versatile veges that can be used in so many ways. My favourite way to do it though is roasted. The beautiful caramelization is just so tasty and it’s so easy to do.

I use olive oil as it takes a higher temperature than most other oils. Coconut oil is delicious but I find my kids aren’t fond of the flavour when it’s roasted. Duck fat or tallow would be amazing if you can get your hands on some great quality stuff. If you like some zing, add some chilli or spices to the mix!

Cauliflower has some amazing health benefits including:

* cancer fighting

* improving blood pressure and kidney function

* fighting inflammation in your body

* a digestive aid

* rich in vitamins and minerals

* good for brain health

* full of antioxidants

Roasted Cauliflower

Gluten free, grain free, dairy free, nut free, egg free, vegan, vegetarian, paleo

This is what you need:

1/2 head of organic cauliflower

3 tablespoons good Aussie olive oil

2-3 cloves organic garlic

Pink salt or celtic sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

This is how you do it:

Preheat the oven to 220ºc.

Cut the cauli into smaller florets.

Toss everything together in a bowl (I like to massage it all in with my hands).

Whack it into a roasting pan and cook the oven for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Hot Tips:

If you want to get extra fancy, sprinkle your roasted cauliflower with some fresh herbs, chilli, lemon juice and/or freshly grated parmesan cheese after it’s roasted.

Leftovers? It’s also delicious cold in a salad or whizz it up and add to hummus.

Choc Berry Mousse Tart

May 19, 2014 · 8 Comments

Making your own healthy desserts does not have to be complicated.

Keep it simple and you are more likely to make this than reach for a chocolate bar!

The lovely Emily from Conscious Foodie is sharing one of her raw desserts with us today to show you just how easy and delicious it really is.

Choc Berry Mousse Tart

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

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 large avocado

1 tablespoon raw cacao powder (can adjust depending on how rich you like it)

2 teaspoons maple syrup (can adjust depending on how sweet you like it)

Raspberries, blueberries (any berries you have) and shredded coconut to garnish

Method:

Blend the avocado, raw cacao powder and maple syrup in a blender until shiny and smooth. Spoon mixture into a small tart tin and set in the fridge for a couple of hours. Sprinkle with berries and coconut. Enjoy! This mousse keeps for a couple of days in the fridge. Feel free to use any sweetener – honey and dates would work well. Maybe double the mixture so you have extra, it’s pretty tasty!

About Emily:

Emily is a Wellness Coach, the creator of conscious-foodie.com and the author of Transform Your Life in 8 Weeks. She is on a mission to spread the word about natural wellness and health, nutritional wholefoods, clean organic living, a sustainable future, self love, gratitude and kindness. When she’s not writing you can find her juicing her greens, meditating, walking barefoot, sitting in the sun, drinking peppermint tea and making raw desserts.

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Choc-Hazel Bliss Balls

March 18, 2014 · 22 Comments

Choc-Hazel Bliss Balls

Now I am a bit of a bliss ball addict, but these are something really, really extra special.

After I made up this variation, I had to get everyone to come running and try them and officially declare me a genius!

Yes, they are that good. Think nutella, think ferrero rocher but healthy!!

Choc-Hazel Bliss Balls

Vital Stats: raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, refined sugar free

Okay so this is what you need:

1 cup pitted sulphur free dates

2 tablespoons Crio Bru (I used the new flavour, Maracaibo)

2 tablespoons organic raw cacao powder

2 teaspoons Heilala Vanilla Bean paste (secret ingredient)

1 cup hazelnuts, skin removed

Okay, so this is how you do it:

Process the dates, crio bru, cacao and vanilla until well combined in a food processor or thermomix. Add hazelnuts and pulse or turbo until they are finely chopped. Use damp hands and roll them into balls. Store in the fridge or freezer.

Exclusively for NNAM readers, you can use this code to get 10% off everything in store: CHRISTMAS10 until 15 December 2016 at Crio Bru here.

(sponsored)

10 Healthy Pancake Recipes

March 4, 2014 · 13 Comments

As a salute to Shrove Tuesday, I have rounded up the most amazing pancake recipes for you today! Enjoy these healthy alternatives from foodie bloggers.

Green Pancakes. So good! Made with spinach – the kids will never know.

Sunday Morning Pancakes from Alisha at Naughty Naturopath Mum. Grain free and dairy free.

Quick and Easy Pancakes – Three Ways from Quirky Cooking. There are options for every allergy here!

Powerhouse Coconut Pancakes by Alexx Stuart. Grain free, gluten free and nut free.

Spelt and Buckwheat Pancakes by Brenda Janschek. Wheat free and nutrient rich.

Chocolate Coconut Pancakes from Iwa at Additive Free Bites.

Oat and Apple Pancakes from Jude Blereau at Whole Food Cooking.

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes with Salted Caramel Walnuts by Meg at My Wholefood Romance.

Banana Bread Pancakes from Sarah at My New Roots.

Vegan Savoury Chickpea Pancakes from Angela at Oh She Glows.

Do you have an awesome pancake recipes? Share it with us!

The ONE thing I think EVERYONE should be eating.

February 12, 2014 · 56 Comments

The one thing I think everyone should be eating.

Paleo, vegetarian, high fat, low carb, raw, juicing, gluten free, dairy free, FODMAP, GAPS, SCD, failsafe, low GI, vegan, blood type.

What the heck are we supposed to eat these days? Does anybody know?

Is anyone else’s head spinning? The nutrition advice seems to change as often as I change my underpants. Well, okay, maybe not that often.

I grew up avoiding fat like it was going to kill me, now everyone is telling me to tuck into butter, cream and bacon.

Every style of eating can make great points as to why we should eat their way. There is research, there are studies, there is living proof. How can everyone be right?

How can the vegans and the paleos both be right?

I have been thinking about this a lot lately.

I do subscribe to the theory of bio-individual nutrition. That basically means we are all different and there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to eating. You are a unique individual and depending on the circumstances and point in time, certain foods may be great for you and certain foods may be bad for you. This became very apparent to us as a family when we discovered that one of us who could not tolerate gluten in the past, can now tolerate gluten. The difference? Some kinesiology work. Did the stress or emotional blockage make it hard for the body to digest gluten at that time? I don’t know exactly, but it sure seems that way to me.

Okay, so that is great. Eat what makes you feel good. Easy! But the process of working out what makes you feel good can take some time, some committed food diarizing and maybe some outside help from professionals. I do think it is a good way to go and something I am following through with all of us as a family.

In the mean time, I was thinking about what to eat. Should we be dropping dairy? Eating more raw foods? Again, head spin time.

Then it occurred to me…… you know what I want us to keep focusing on eating? What I think everyone should be eating? What is best for everyone’s health?

Quality food.

Simple as that.

I don’t think anyone’s health can ever benefit from eating poor quality food.

What we try to eat:

♥ organic

♥ free range

♥ grass-fed and finished

♥ fresh

♥ seasonal

♥ local

♥ whole and unprocessed

♥ GMO free

♥ ethical food grown with love

What we try not to eat:

♥ factory farmed meat

♥ caged eggs

♥ artificial additives – colours, flavours, preservatives, fillers

♥ unsustainable foods

♥ artificial sweeteners

♥ GMOs

♥ chemicals

♥ nutritionally devoid foods

♥ processed foods

♥ added hormones and antibiotics

Think of a ham and salad sandwich.

Poor quality sandwich: Bleached GMO wheat, preservatives, canola oil, synthetic vitamin laden bread, chemical-filled and hydrogenated fats margarine, nitrate-filled factory farmed processed ham, pesticide riddled tomato and lettuce.

Good quality sandwich: Organic stoneground sourdough bread, organic pasture fed butter, organic, free range happy pig ham, fresh local organic tomatoes and lettuce.

So if you feel like eating a ham and salad sandwich, have one, but make it a superior quality one.

You get my drift?

I think if you are eating good quality food, you can’t go far wrong. Start with that, first and foremost, and then investigate your bio-individual nutrition. So, organic fetta makes you feel sick? Then you might need to avoid dairy.

But just make sure it isn’t crappy, poor quality, heavily processed, nutrient stripped food that is making you sick in the first place.

Anyway, what do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Got anything to add?

10 Healthy Ice Cream Recipes!

January 6, 2014 · 16 Comments

10 Healthy Ice Cream Recipes!

Who doesn’t love an ice cream on a hot summer’s day?

Unfortunately, the commercial ice cream you buy can be truly horrendous. Just start looking at labels and you will see sugar, sugar and lots of sugar, hydrogenated vegetable oils and additives galore (some even use msg!). Urrrk!

Truth is, it’s pretty easy to make your own ice cream at home. You can turn an unhealthy treat into a healthy treat!

We invested in a good Cuisinart ice cream machine and have loved every minute of it! Gourmet ice-cream is cheap as chips when you make it yourself. Don’t pay $10 for half a litre! You can also control exactly what ingredients go in to your ice cream – use organic ingredients and healthier sugar substitutes like honey, maple syrup, rapadura or coconut sugar.

A thermomix or food processor will often do the job too for some of these recipes, so you don’t even need an ice cream maker. Have a go at whipping up some soft fruit that needs to be used up and adding some sort of liquid – juice, milk, milk substitute or coconut water. Whack it into containers and into the freezer!

Here are ten totally delicious and healthy ice cream recipes to get you started.

Pine Lime Splice

Dairy free, gluten free, sugar free.

Honey Macadamia Gelati from Sarah at Clever Cook

Gluten free, thermomix friendly.

Choc Mint Icecream from Iwa at Additive Free Bites

Dairy free, gluten free, refined sugar free, thermomix friendly.

Magic Fruit Icecream from Wendy at Vegie Smugglers

Dairy free, gluten free, sugar free, thermomix friendly.

Lemon Kefir Ice cream from Elizabeth at A Chook Woman

Gluten free, refined sugar free, thermomix friendly.

Nutty Banana Blueberry Icecream from Alexx Stuart, Low Tox Living

Dairy free, gluten free, sugar free, thermomix friendly.

Peace Pops from Adele at Vegie Head

Dairy free, refined sugar free, gluten free, vegan.

Avocado, Coconut and Lime Ice Cream from Tenina at Cooking with Tenina

Dairy free, gluten free, thermomix friendly, easy to make refined sugar free.

Chocolate Fudge Ice Blocks from Georgia at Well Nourished

Dairy free, gluten free, egg free, nut free, thermomix friendly.

Double Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream from Jo at Quirky Cooking

Gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, thermomix friendly.

I hope these recipes get you inspired to get into the kitchen and make some of your own home-made ice cream!

Click here to get Cuisinart Ice Cream makers

Salted Caramel Popcorn

October 25, 2013 · 33 Comments

Popcorn is one of the most favourite snacks in our house.

It’s gluten free and it tastes yummy. I jazzed up our normal, plain popcorn with this sticky salted caramel sauce. A bit of a treat and dead easy to make when you get a yearning for something sweet late at night.

Salted Caramel Popcorn

Vital Stats: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, Naturally Sweetened, Nut Free, Egg Free

Okay, so this is what’s in it:

6 cups popped organic popcorn

1/4 cup organic maple syrup

1/4 cup virgin, organic coconut oil

1 tablespoon organic coconut sugar

1 scraped vanilla pod (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

1 – 2 teaspoons pink Himalayan salt

Okay, so this is how you do it:

Pop your popcorn and chuck it into a large stainless steel or glass bowl.

Mix all other ingredients in a saucepan and heat over a medium temperature.

Cook it for about five minutes or until it has reduced a little and is all gooey and syrupy thick.

Resist urge to pop finger in and test – this stuff burns!!

Pour over popcorn and mix well with a large metal spoon.

Let it cool down before chowing down. Refer to above advice.

Tips:

♥ Using organic popping corn means you don’t have to worry about GMO corn. Get it at your health food store or online here.

♥ Popcorn is actually pretty good for you – it contains lots of fibre and the antioxidant polyphenols.

♥ Use an electric popcorn machine or pop it the old fashioned way on the stove. Microwave popcorn is nasty!

♥ If you want to get fancy, add in some coconut, nuts or fruit and press it into a slice tin or roll into balls.

♥ You can totally swap out the maple syrup for rice malt syrup if fructose bothers you or honey if you prefer. And if you are okay with dairy, try it with some organic, grass fed butter instead of coconut oil.