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Planet Eve Organics’ Tropical Fruit Enzyme Facial Exfoliator

tfe_exfoliator_largeAs a firm believer in beauty being an inside job, I was relieved to hear when I reviewed their products, that Planet Eve Organics also believes that what you put on your skin should be chemical free and completely natural.

Inspired by Eve the first woman and nature's garden of Eden, they believe  that what you put on your skin is not only effective but also good for your skin, health and well being.

Their  luxurious organic skin care delivers real benefits while being free of synthetic chemicals.

Certified Organic, the Tropical Fruit Enzyme Facial Exfoliator is a free-radical fighter. Combining papaya, pineapple and guava, it instantly revives tired, dull skin.

You can read more about their products here. 

You can also check an interesting article on exfoliators on Mom Curls.

Kitchen Ink Tea Towels

21_1024x1024I came across Kitchen Ink’s teal towels whist on facebook and was really impressed with their style.

Their hand-printed, tongue-in-cheek and vibrant tea towels certainly add a splash of colour and amusement to the kitchen.

This intricate design references the sugar skulls molded in celebration of Mexico's Dia de los Muertos - the Day of the Dead.

Sparking many a conversation amongst friends, their designs are printed on 100% linen fabric using water-based ink.

The tea towel measures 50cm x 70cm and is perfect for framing, as a gift or even for drying your dishes!

You can find out more about them here.

Chia Pods

imgresBy looking at it you wouldn’t realise that the tiny chia seed is a wondrous superfood that packs a nutritious punch!  It's the highest plant based source of Omega-3, dietary fibre, antioxidants and a complete protein containing all eight amino acids - understandably why chia means ‘strength’ in Mayan.  

I use chia seeds in a number of my recipes and when mixed with water (or any liquid), they become gelatinous and take on the flavour of the liquid.

Dairy free and vegan, and ranging in flavours from blueberry to coffee bean, Chia Pods are sure to curb that afternoon sweet craving. You can read more about them here.

Herbies’ Cinnamon Quills (whole)

herbies-cinnamon-quills-lI've been a long-time fan of Herbies' Spices and love adding their cinnamon quills to a number of my recipes; especially curries such as the Cauliflower Curry. The aromatic fragrance that releases when cooked makes my mouth water for the meal I'm about to eat and share.  Cinnamon is an amazing spice which  helps suppress inflammation  has anti-microbial and reduces the feeling of nausea.   All of Herbies' spices contain no fillers, starches, MSG, free-flow agents or additives of any kind, so you know they will be rich in flavour and quality. You can find out more about them here.

Reserve (with Resveratrol) by Jeunesse Global

retail-reserveAs you know I am a big believer in eating fresh, whole foods.   An added benefit of doing so is the youthful, glowing appearance that shines through the skin because the body is being nourished from the inside out.  Reserve is a unique gel drink and a botanical blend of antioxidants, anthocyanins and essential fatty acids. The key ingredient, resveratrol, is a natural antioxidant-containing compound found in the skin of red grapes.  It is made into a highly bio-available gel form, to make absorption by the body easier.  You can find out more about Reserve here.

Mother’s Day Recipes

mothers-day-breakfast-in-bed-flowers

Pamper your mum by making her a healthy and delicious homemade breakfast this Mother’s Day!

It's time to start planning the perfect breakfast in bed.  Here's a sample menu to get you started.

Mother's Day Menu

Mixed Berries in Apple Cider Vinegar with Cashew Nut Cream

This breakfast bowl is perfection. Simple and understated, the addition of apple cider vinegar will ensure the perfect start to a homemade breakfast in bed.  Find the recipe here.

Kale and Lemon Rind Omelette

This will wake mum up with a zing! The biotin found in eggs is fantastic for promoting luscious shiny hair, while the coconut oil and lemon will help her body absorb beneficial iron from the kale. Kale is also a fantastic anti-inflammatory food and just one cup is filled with 10% of the recommended daily intake of omega-3 fatty acids. Get flipping here.

Fragrant Lavender Tea

There’s nothing more delectable than a lavender tea. With its delicate floral scent, this tea creates the perfect moment to unwind and enjoy its fragrant, flowery goodness. Find the recipe here.

Supercharged Breakfast in Bed Planning Tips 

  • Chop ingredients the night before and have them at the ready to prepare for the big reveal. Make sure you have a pretty tray to carry it out on.
  • Nothing says I love you like a homemade touch. Decorate the tray with a small bunch of hand-picked flowers in a pretty glass jar. Add a home-made card.
  • Don’t make it too early in the morning to ensure that she has a sleep in on her special day.

repsFor more delicious anti-inflammatory recipes checkout my new book Eat Yourself Beautiful

Mixed Berries in Apple Cider Vinegar with Cashew Nut Cream

Berries in ACV and Cashew Nut Cream

This breakfast bowl is perfection, and by happy co-incidence it also makes a wonderful dessert.

Simple and understated, the addition of apple cider vinegar will ensure the perfect start to a homemade breakfast in bed.  Deliciousness and nutritiousness collide in a spectacular balancing act of flavours.

Serves Two

 Ingredients

  • 440 g (151/2 oz/2 cups) fresh berries
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 45 g (11/2 oz/1/3 cup) slivered almonds

 Cashew Nut Cream

 Ingredients

  • 155 g (51/2 oz/1 cup) raw cashew nuts
  • 170 ml (2/3 cup) filtered water
  • 8 drops stevia liquid
  • 1 teaspoon alcohol-free vanilla essence (optional)

 Method

 To make the cashew nut cream, place all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz until smooth and creamy.

  • Add a little water if the mixture isn’t smooth.
  • Divide the berries between two small bowls.
  • Pour 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar over each, top with slivered almonds and cashew nut cream, and serve.

Note: Make the cashew nut cream the night before.  It can be stored in the fridge in a covered container for up to one week. You can substitute the same quantity of almonds, sunflower seeds, macadamias or hazelnuts for the cashews.

For more delicious anti-inflammatory recipes checkout my new book Eat Yourself Beautiful

Kale and Lemon Rind Omelette

kale and lemon rind omelette

Wake up with a zing with a mouthwatering omelette.  

I love to create recipes that taste like they came straight out of a vegetable patch. So vibrant and earthy and this comes straight out of my new book Eat Yourself Beautiful.

It's great for the nutritional balancing act too. The biotin found in eggs is fantastic for promoting luscious shiny hair, while the coconut oil and lemon will help your body absorb beneficial iron from the kale.  Which by the way is a fantastic anti-inflammatory food,  one cup being filled with 10% of the recommended daily intake of omega-3 fatty acids!

Here's how to make it. 

Serves One

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 3 leaves Tuscan kale, washed, stems removed and shredded
  • 3 organic eggs, beaten
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
  • 1 tablespoon filtered water
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh
  • coriander, plus extra, to serve (optional)
  • salt and pepper, to season

 Method

  • Preheat the oven grill (broiler) to high.
  • Heat the coconut oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat and sauté the kale for a couple of minutes.
  • Add the water and lemon rind to the eggs, beat again and pour the egg mixture over the kale, giving the pan a swirl so the base is evenly coated.
  • Reduce the heat and scatter the coriander over the egg mixture. Cook for a minute or so, until the omelette is firm enough on the underside to be folded over.
  • Tilt the pan away from you and use a spatula to gently lift and fold a third of the omelette on itself.
  • Transfer the omelette to the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven, transfer to a plate and top with a squeeze of lemon juice and the extra coriander leaves (if using) and serve.

Lavender Tea with Almond Milk

lav teaThere’s nothing more delectable than a lavender tea. With its delicate floral scent, this tea creates the perfect moment to unwind and enjoy its fragrant, flowery goodness.

An antidote to insomnia, drink it before bed and you’ll be guaranteed a relaxing night’s sleep. Once you have tried this tea you’ll be able to adjust the quantity of lavender to taste.

Serves One

Ingredients

  • 1 handful dried lavender blossoms
  • 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) boiling filtered water
  • 125 ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) Almond or milk of choice warmed

Method

  • Place the lavender blossoms in a warmed teapot and pour the water over the top. Cover with the lid and allow to steep for 7 minutes.
  • Add the almond milk, strain into a mug, then sip and count your blessings.

For more delicious anti-inflammatory recipes check out my new book Eat Yourself Beautiful

Easter Treats for Hunter Gatherers

eggsEaster weekend is a couple of days away so it’s time to channel your inner hunter gatherer and marshal the troops for the inevitable living room Easter egg hunt. 

You’ll want to explore high and low when you discover how good these solid eggs taste.  And just like traditional eggs, these orbs of deliciousness can be encased in pretty foil and hidden deep under the couch or buried in your favorite pot plant. 

Just because it’s Easter, there’s no need to get embroiled in the supermarket price wars, just battle it out in your own home with healthy homemade creations.

Note these will melt on a hot day so if you want to avoid finding melted chocolate under the couch cushions in a few months then perhaps it’s better to move the hunt to the backyard.

kids_spring06_egg_chickens_vertGather your ingredients, make these ahead of time and store in the freezer

Solid Chocolate Eggs

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup coconut oil
  • ¼ cup coconut butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1 TBS rice malt syrup or sweetener of choice
  • ½ cup cacao powder
  • 2 TBS shaved cacao butter or coconut cream

(You can find ingredients here)

Method

  • Melt coconut oil and butter in a small saucepan over a low heat
  • Add remaining ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until combined
  • Using an Easter Egg mold, or if you don’t have one you can substitute by using a mini muffin pan, (I used one for this photograph), egg cups, or rounded ice cube trays, grease the inside of your tray with coconut oil so the eggs don’t stick to the sides when you are removing them. 
  • Pour mixture in and place in the freezer to set.  Minimum chill time is just 15 minutes in the freezer.
  • Once set, remove them from the freezer and detach eggs from the mold or muffin pan by gently tapping on the base.  Once removed, run your index finger the warm tap, being careful not to burn your fingers and with your index finger swipe over the egg to slightly melt chocolate at each base then sandwich both halves together. Return eggs to the freezer for five minutes to set.

For more Easter recipes why not try out these spegg-tacular creations and let me know what you’ll be making for Easter this year and don’t forget to share them on Instagram.

Sugar Free Chocolates

Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Roughs

I Quit Sugar Bounty Bars

Chocolate and Berry Pudding

Chocolate Nut Butter Cups

Hoppy Easter!

Lee xo

Ps Find out more about my recipe books here.

Two Simple Breakfast Bowls

breakfast bowlsHello autumn! In an effort to coax me and my cozy high socks out of bed on cooler April mornings I’ve been filling my mind and appetite with warming breakfast bowls and spicy chai.

Never one to argue with a craving, for the past few weeks, I’ve been on a bleary-eyed breakfast bowl bender and today I’m sharing two of my favourites. You may have already seen them on insta because we are on very good terms at the moment.

Two extra special kind of delicious bowls, one savoury and one sweet. Double yum!

As the colder weather rolls around it makes sense to eat with the seasons. We change our clothing to move with the seasons so it makes sense to change our diets too.  In my undying hearty appreciation of food I think that seasonal food tastes much better because it’s had the chance to ripen and develop naturally, brimming with more nutrients and minerals and it’s easier on the hip pocket too.

To break out of your breakfast rut, swap out your current dubious gluten free mystery packaged cereal and try these healthy nourishing bowls. Really, all you need is an investment of fifteen minutes at the stove and before you know it you’ll be fully awake and enjoying a comforting bowl of nourishment. Gulp!

Used by the Aztecs quinoa, a hard core super grain is gluten free, high in essential amino acids, and a great source of protein. Feel free to tinker with the recipes and top as you desire depending upon the season. 

Supercharged Tip: Make extra quinoa to squirrel away in the freezer or for a quick lunch or dinner.  Try fried rice or veggie stir fry. Your future self will thank you.

Directions for consumption. Eat snuggled on the sofa with a fuzzy blanket until it’s time to leave the house.

Drum roll.

Quinoa Fig and Walnut Bowl

Serves One

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • ¼ cup of toasted walnuts
  • 6 strawberries roughly chopped
  • 1 fig sliced
  • Almond or coconut milk to taste
  • Handful of seeds to garnish (optional)
  • Plunge in the spoon

Method

  • Cook quinoa to package directions
  • Place quinoa in a bowl pour on milk (can be warmed if preferred)
  • Pile walnuts, strawberries and fig slices on top
  • Sprinkle with seeds

Nourishing Bowl

Serves One

Ingredients

  • ½ cup cooked quinoa
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ tsp cumin
  • One cup kale roughly chopped
  • 1 small can of sardines in extra virgin olive oil (or fresh)
  • Sprinkling of dukka (optional)

Method

  • Cook quinoa to package directions and boil water for eggs for softly boiled
  • Meanwhile in a frying pan place olive oil and cook kale with cumin until wilted
  • Place quinoa in a bowl then spoon in kale and pop sardines beside
  • Sprinkle with dukka

To read more about my recipe books visit the bookshelf here.

Cleansing Turmeric and Ginger Tea

Turmeric and Ginger Tea

There are countless gurus in the wellness sphere these days, look around and you’ll find one on every web corner sporting their own alliterated bylines and catchy slogans. But how can you find one that works for you?  You know, one that is not selling a cure for cancer, an expensive online course to sign up to or low fat weight loss program.  Some of the snake oil merchants can even pull rabbits out of hats.

Wondering how to spot a health and wellness guru? Outside of cyberspace you’ll usually find them hanging around lifestyle improvement shows or persuasively sneaking their segments into breakfast television.

When I look for health gurus, I like to look at specific ingredients, because let’s face it health gurus don’t bring you pleasure like food does, you know those wonderful fist pumping moments when the dish you created tastes inexplicably good; I guess you could say gurus are there to change the way you think BUT a beautiful vegetable or spice that flavours up a meal which attacks your senses can really change the way you FEEL and I think that is what is most important. 

Speaking of ingredients, there are some Svengalis out there and ones you should steer clear of, the bad fats and over processed, chemically laden non-foods; but real gurus ones that metamorphosize you on a deeper spiritual level come in all shapes and spices, they may not be photogenic, glamorous and trendy like unpronouncable hyped-up super foods but they are REAL. 

When it comes to charismatic healing gurus look no further than turmeric.  It’s not just a sunny bright spice to curry up dishes, it’s also commonly used in Ayurvedic and Unani medicine. Turmeric originates from the root of the Curcuma longa plant, which is a member of the ginger family and it's one of nature's most powerful healers and a true guru. 

I know you will relate to this cleansing tea with its alkalising and detoxifying properties which provide powerful anti-inflammatory action within your body. It's from my latest book Eat Yourself Beautiful.  Turmeric is a superhero ingredient to help heal and prevent dry skin, slow aging, diminish wrinkles and improve skin’s elasticity.

Indian women use turmeric as a facial cleanser and exfoliant.  If you are using fresh turmeric, handle with care as it stains easily. If you do happen to turn your favourite garment yellow try squeezing on lemon juice or eucalyptus to remove the stain. 

So here’s to my number one health guru turmeric.  Make it yours too!

Ingredients

  • 250 ml(9 fl oz/1 cup) almond or rice milk
  • 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
  • 6 drops stevia liquid

Method

  • Add the almond milk to small saucepan and heat gently until it reaches room temperature.
  • Add the turmeric and ginger to a mug.
  • Pour a small amount of warm milk into the mug and stir to create a liquid paste, ensuring there are no lumps.
  • Add the remaining milk and sweeten with stevia.

For more healing recipes check out my new book Eat Yourself Beautiful.

Happy Cooking

Lee xo

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