I was very fortunate recently to be able to spend a weekend up in Gwinganna which is a heaven-sent health and lifestyle retreat nestled in Queensland’s Tallebudgera Valley.

If you haven’t heard of it or been there before, you’re in for a really special sublime experience. It’s set on 500 acres of extremely beautiful bush land and as soon as you arrive on the bus which has been zig-zagging its way up the elevated mountain road, you’ll feel like you have stepped into your own private shangri-la, well that is exactly how I felt when I arrived! Ahhh the serenity!
When you climb down from the coach onto the crunchy earth underfoot you’ll look around you’ll see a quaint bunch of heritage buildings in a village like setting which makes you feel instantly happy. What caught my immediate attention was a beautiful weatherboard church which I found out was the former Tweed Head's Methodist Church that had been painstakingly transported up to find its resting place amongst the gum trees and crisp air of the valley. The church is where nightly meditation classes are held.

The classes are based upon a guided body scan mediation which coaxes and cajoles you gently into a blissful state of complete relaxation. I did two meditation classes during the weekend each night before dinner and they were calming and a great way to unwind.

Gwinganna in its entirety is an eco-friendly retreat, with an extensive environmental impact program in place that is noticeable in different areas throughout the grounds and buildings; from the recycling and energy efficiency measures that have been put in place to the wonderful organic and botanical gardens including four active bee hives. The gardens even come with their very own engaging and knowledgeable botanist. Once I had settled in, I took a wander around the grounds and veggie gardens which were thriving with veggies and herbs and an abundance of anti-inflammatory spices. Some of my favourites from the veggie gardens were kale, turmeric and ginger which are used in many of the Gwinganna recipes so I instantly felt excitement about what was to come for dinner!.

Speaking of food… it was absolutely one of my favourite aspects of the weekend, because the menu at Gwinganna followed many of my own eating principles. All of the produce was fresh, in season, organic and delicious and what I loved more than anything about it was that it was simple. Gwinganna’s food philosophy is based around the belief that Mother Nature knows best. Low human intervention food where the food has undergone no or minimal changes from its place in nature to your plate is one of the founding principles in the Gwinganna kitchen.

Because winter is a prime time for root and green vegetables I indulged in hearty warming soups like this delicious broccoli soup served with a yummy fresh green salad. I loved the dressing as well, it was made with tahini, lemon, lime a bit of garlic and a touch of water to make it easy to pour over the crispy, fresh salad.

Hermann Schafellner who originates from Austria and has worked across the globe in top hotels, is the man responsible for the delectable food that flows from the kitchens. One evening he came out from behind his massive stock pot to say hi and we shared a giggle over Austrian cuisine and the size of a Salzburg Nockerl which is a gourmet fluffy dessert reminiscent of Salzburg’s snow-capped mountains (and about the size of them!).

After a restful night’s sleep in one of the eco rooms with gorgeous high ceilings and fluffy pillows, I awoke to a hearty breakfast which consisted of gluten free cereals and almond milk and topped off with sheep’s milk yoghurt. There was also an option to order a hot breakfast from the kitchen with sautéed spinach, some activated nuts and seeds, poached eggs and fresh mushrooms.

Gwinganna chefs cater for anyone with food intolerances or allergies and the good news for people with a discerning palate is that they create simple dishes that taste absolutely out of this world and are presented so beautifully. At dinner time I had a really amazing slow cooked beef dish on cauli mash.

The weekend involved meeting a great bunch of interesting and varied people, indulging in fun activities such as water running in the heated pool, boxing (which was super fun) and some stretch and relaxation classes. It also involved a lot of time lounging around on this wonderful circular chair watching the birds gathering twigs and items for their winter nests.

It is a wonderful place to practice mindfulness. One of the other highlights of my stay was a deep tissue massage from Lina who was an intuitive masseuse with healing hands. There are a number of different spa treatments that are available in the circular spa sanctuary which is built around a tree so as to preserve it.

The spa treatments range from massages to facials and even equine therapy for anyone wishing to be soothed, nurtured, healed and balanced from within.
For more information about Gwinganna visit their website here.

My grandma who is just about to turn 103 is as sharp as a tack and can still sniff out a stock cube at 100 paces.  Her cooking is very traditional and one of her mainstays in the kitchen is home-made broth. 

Many supermarket brands nowadays just don’t cut it when it comes to healthy ingredients and have limited healing prowess.  You’ll find that even though they claim to be natural on the front of the box, in reality they are watered down versions of the real thing and often produced at high temperatures which eliminates much of the goodness.  On top of that artificial colours, preservatives and MSG can be added along with sugar and high doses of salt. 

There’s no need to feel intimidated by making your own broth, although there are hundreds of variations of stock recipes, you can do it very simply and once the preparation is done and you’ve left it bubbling on a low heat until ready for use you can go about enjoying your day.  I have a lovely healing chicken broth recipe I’m going to share with you from my brand new Heal Your Gut e Book.

Soothing and immune boosting broth supports digestion by healing and sealing the digestive tract. You can consume it as a soup or soothing drink or use it in any recipe that calls for stock. 

The gelatin found in bone broth in particular is a hydrophilic colloid. It attracts and holds liquids, including digestive juices, to fully support digestion. It’s anti-inflammatory, nutrient dense and contains a rich amount of minerals in an easily absorbable format. It not only contains calcium and magnesium, but also phosphorus, silicon, sulfur and trace minerals. It even contains broken down material from cartilage and tendons such as chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine which are beneficial for arthritis and joint pain. That’s why it is so supportive for people who are suffering with auto-immune or gut issues.

Stephen Rennard, M.D agrees, in an off-beat chicken soup study conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center results showed that “Grandma’s Chicken Soup” as it was affectionately known, reduced inflammation in the respiratory system and improved digestion.

“When I’m gone, out of all the research I’ve done, I’ll probably be remembered most for my research on chicken soup,” Dr. Rennard said.

When making any kind of bone broth it can be easily produced from the bones of beef, lamb, poultry, or fish. Dr Rennard believes that a combination of ingredients in broth work together to have beneficial effects. 

For a nutrient boost you can add your favourite vegetables and spices to your liking such as garlic, leeks, carrots, onion, celery, sea salt, pepper, parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage, coriander, and ginger.  I like to add turmeric to my stock too. It’s good to avoid bitter vegetables when making a stock so steer clear of using bitter greens, capsicum, cabbage, kale and broccoli; although these vegetables are healthy, they do not improve the flavour.

Bones can be found at your local butcher, or meat departments of food stores and you can also use bones from roasting a chicken or use a variety of bones together. Some people roast them in the oven for 30 minutes beforehand to get a richer flavour, this is up to you.  Chicken stock can be cooked for up to 24 hours and beef can be cooked longer up to 48 hours.

The addition of apple cider vinegar helps to draw valuable minerals from the bones to boost your bone broth and fast track gut healing.

Supercharged Tip

Homemade Broth can be used as the liquid in making soups, stews, gravies, sauces, and reductions. It can also be used to sauté or roast vegetables or you can enjoy it straight from the bowl!

The best way to store it is in sealed glass jars in fridge, ensuring it cools down sufficiently before you place it in the jars.  You can also store it in the freezer or ice cube trays. Recipes that call for a cup of stock would need about 8 cubes.

Healing Chicken Broth

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken
• 2 chicken feet for extra gelatin (optional)
• 2 litres of filtered water
• 2 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 1 large onion chopped
• 3 celery sticks chopped
• 1 bunch parsley
• 2 cloves garlic
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Place chicken and chicken feet in a large stainless steel pot with water, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and all vegetables
• Bring to the boil, and remove foam that rises to the top.
• Reduce heat to the lowest setting and cover and simmer
• After two hours remove chicken meat from bones and set aside
• Return bones to pot and simmer for a further 10 hours or up to 24 hours
• Ten minutes before cooking time has finished add parsley and garlic to increase minerals and anti-fungal properties
• Remove bones with a slotted spoon and strain the stock into a large bowl and refrigerate until fat rises to the top and congeals
• Skim off fat (optional) and place stock in a jar or covered container in your refrigerator or use the storage instructions above

You’ll find more information about the book here Heal Your Gut e Book.

So excited to be finally launching my new eBook Heal Your Gut!

I hope that you'll enjoy the book, it's a culmination of my personal quest for healing and everything I have learnt along the way to bring my health back into balance.

It's an informative, uncomplicated and achievable gut healing protocol which will inspire, motivate and bring about true healing to your body minus the expensive supplements and faddish diet trends.

The natural four week protocol is not scary and honors the body as a whole.  The healing program is divided into four phases for you to follow one step at a time, and in your own time.  What I think you'll embrace about this book is that it's not dictatorial and takes you into account as an individual on your own healing pathway. 

Heal Your Gut encourages you to work with your natural gut flora in a positive and supportive way, and not fight against it as an unwelcome and unruly opponent.  It provides step by step guidance on how to bring your gut flora into balance with food to achieve optimum and enduring health.

Heal Your Gut features over fifty sweet and savoury recipe inspirations, drawing on whole foods and a kaleidoscopic rainbow of healing ingredients.  There are simple solutions for blood sugar, energy maintenance and gut healing and it covers breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.  There are also delicious snacks and beverages to indulge in.

The eBook includes step by step guidelines on how to heal your gut, and gives information on self-love and living with flexibility and not rigidity. It features personalised anecdotes to bring healing closer to home, and demonstrates that healing is truly possible.

The book also connects with the emotional, stress and brain related aspects of gut health.  Recognising the activity of cortisol in the body, meeting the Vegus Nerve, and really learning to belly breathe through fears and worries is just one crucial part to healing from within.

There are chapters covering the gut and immune system connection and the two-way interdependent relationship between the gut and the brain.  The book also covers lifestyle factors which contribute to gut health such as such as cleaning products and beauty products.

This isn’t a book to just read, I urge you to interact with it, print it out and make notes in the margins, scribble on it and make it your own wellness plan. This is your book and I have written it for you.  Read more and purchase the eBook here.

Here's a peek at some of the healing recipes to enjoy...

Find out more about the book here.

Happy Cooking!

Lee xo

Keep Korma and Curry On.

India is a controlled and chaotically enriching assault on the senses which has altered my perception on reality forever. I would go as far as to say that it quite literally blew my mind. 

There are so many things to love about a place that holds the most wonderfully vibrant and alive cuisine in the world, coupled with an ancient system of healing and what's not to love about the traditional home of downward dog?

So what was my biggest takeaway from India?

I met a myriad of wonderfully genuine and generous people who I felt had a strong sense of kinship and community, perhaps I noticed it more because I could see people’s dependency upon one another.  And not just the kind of dependency which involved getting a step further ahead in business or a personal advancement.  It was more of a matter of sticking together for the sole purposes of survival.  Being immersed in the human element of India and its people gave me an insight and a sense of perspective that can’t be found on a facebook highlight reel.

What did I learn? 

I learnt that it’s not about living your dream.  It’s about living your purpose.  And for me these two things are very different.  For some people living your purpose may be enjoying a simple, happy and uncomplicated life engulfed in personal meaning. For others it may mean the difference between a job and a calling. For me it is both.

The external chaos of India compels you to explore your internal world, let go of the extrinsic and live in the intrinsic to be able to cope with all that is happening externally, the people with leprosy, the snake charmers, a herd of cows on the road, bustling and beeping traffic and a lack of sanitation.  It makes you try to want to understand more than who you are and what your values are, but what your true purpose on this planet is.  For me being in India meant being comfortable with feeling uncomfortable most of the time which helps you to find your purpose sooner.

Speaking of takeaway, the initial reason for my food safari was an urgent craving to delve into the richness and healing properties of Ayurvedic nutrition and cooking and to sink knee-deep in learning about how to eat right for your constitution or dosha. (more…)

Sometimes quick and easy is all that is required to satisfy a grumbling tummy.  Behold the idiot-proof dinner from my recipe book Eat Yourself Beautiful.

You’ll be heaping this tasty dish onto your spoon or chopstick and cramming it into your mouth in just a very short space of time.

The sauce is thick and glossy with an authentic blend of flavours, the fresh, ginger, tahini and tamari give it a wonderfully nutty yet Asian inspired taste and the lemon and apple cider vinegar kick it up a notch with a gentle buzz on the taste buds.

I have included my favourite wonder spice turmeric to not only provide anti-inflammatory healing potency but also to delight your visual senses with a richly deep autumnal colour palate.

Use your intuition when creating this dish and add any leftover veg you may have in the fridge.

I hope you like it! Share your creations with me on instagram here. 

WF, DF, GF, SF

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 brown onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/2 red capsicum (pepper), seeds and membrane removed, sliced
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) beef, cut into very thin strips
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons wheat-free tamari
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
120 g (41/4 oz/2 cups) broccoli, cut into florets
125 g (41/2 oz/1 cup) green beans, roughly chopped
100 g (31/2 oz/1 cup) snow peas (mangetout), sliced on the diagonal
Celtic sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
brown rice, to serve

Method

• Melt the coconut oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.
• Add the onion, garlic and capsicum and saute for 5–7 minutes.
• Add the beef and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
• Add the turmeric, lemon juice, ginger, tamari, tahini and apple cider vinegar.
• Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
• Add the broccoli, beans and snow peas to the pan.
• Cook over medium heat for 12–15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
• Season to taste and serve with brown rice.

Happy cooking 🙂

Lee xo

Mokosh are a genuine and authentic cosmetics company who are Certified Organic.  What I love about their beauty products is that they have taken them to a whole new level by drawing on the holistic principles of Ayurveda in their formulations as well as being completely natural and preservative-free. 

I tested out the rich face cream which is divine on the skin and gives a beautiful non-greasy and smooth result hydrating the skin for hours. You only need to use a small amount.  All Mokosh moisturisers are water-free, and therefore up to 5 times the concentration of standard moisturisers, they are extremely rich in active nutrients, bringing a remarkable softness and smoothness to the skin.  The face cleansing powder was developed to provide a gentle, pure means to cleanse and exfoliate daily.  It's free of synthetic ingredients, I used it and found it to be good for cleansing away impurities and leaving the skin feeling toned and refreshed.  

You can read more about their products here.