Lee – Page 56 – Supercharged Food

Healthy Cookware for Your Real Food Kitchen

As more and more people come around to the benefits of eating healthily and from the source, it struck me recently that there’s little information surrounding the benefits of choosing the correct and healthiest cookware on the market today.

We all know that somewhere lurking in our kitchen is at least one old saucepan that perhaps had its heyday in the 90’s and is hanging in there, just by the skin of its teeth.

Although for many of us it can be a struggle to say goodbye to what is a reminder of a delicious meal created with a special person or a trusty rusty pan that has seen many a day, for a lot of us the time has now come for cookware update.

Not only do old cooking pots and pans often look battered and bruised, they can also be a source of leeching chemicals which infiltrate our food and negate the benefits of all of the wonderfully fresh, organic and healthy produce we are purchasing.

When choosing new cookware it’s important to look at a number of factors, the usability, the price and most importantly, the materials used. (more…)

Cauliflower, Daikon Rice and Quinoa Pilaf

It’s time to get out those oversized salad bowls from the back of your kitchen cupboard. Today I’m going to give you lots of healthy options for replacing white rice in your meals.

You know those times when you’re looking for an alternative to stodgy, insulin spiking white rice and not sure where to turn? Well, why not try one of these more nutritious options for the perfect partnership or base to a meal. They make excellent replacements and you can whip them up just as easily.

When eaten regularly, research has shown that eating white rice can increase your risk of Type 2 diabetes. Aside from its sky high glycemic index, another reason to give white rice the flick is its lack of nutrients after undergoing refinement and processing, stripping the grain of essential B-vitamins, iron, manganese and fibre and leaving you with zilcho nutrition.

Some of the best alternatives for you to try when replacing white rice are opting for wholesome brown rice, it still has the same consistency and texture but you’re ensuring yourself more vitamins, minerals and a serve of fibre. Try using brown rice in risotto, sushi, stir fries and alongside dishes like this health promoting Eggplant and Green Bean Curry. (more…)

Quinoa Pancakes

Here’s a wonderful healthy breakfast or lunch idea that will give you a serve of complete protein and keep your blood sugar levels in check.

Quinoa Pancakes

Ingredients

3 cups cooked quinoa (white, brown or red)
3/4 cup almond milk
4 eggs
3 tsp gluten free baking powder
pinch of Celtic sea salt
coconut oil or butter for frying
Stevia, lemon wedges for serving

Method

In a blender place all ingredients and blend until smooth adding more milk if required
Heat oil or butter in a frying pan
Place a spoonful of batter into pan and cook until pancake starts to bubble on top
Carefully flip it over and continue cooking until it is golden brown.
Remove from pan and serve with lemon and stevia.
You can make savoury versions too by adding nutritional yeast and serving with a green salad.

Ayurda Skincare

I was recently given the opportunity to delve into the finer side of Ayurvedic beauty.

Ayurda delivers more than a few beautiful beauty products. Rather it provides a personalised service to ensure your body and soul are treated with the correct nutrients, relevant to your skin.

Combining the wisdom of Indian Ayurvedic philosophy, Ayurda identifies that every woman is unique – and what may work perfectly on one skin may be to the detriment of another.

I love their customised approach – before purchasing, you complete an online quiz that delves not only into skin traits that you hold but also vital personal characteristics that define you. The result is a regime that is completely reflective of your specific needs.

Interestingly, before I even completed my online quiz, the consultant predicted what products would best suit me, having seen a long distance photo of me as well as chatted to me at length on the phone. The quiz merely confirmed what she already saw of me.

My approach to my skin is now much more refined and simple – knowing that I only need a few essential products, rather than a plethora of unessential shelve wasters has left me with an easy routine that has left my skin glowing.

For those of you who have read my blog for a while, you are also probably aware of my love for simple ingredients – with a moisturiser containing eight ingredients, including sesame oil, saffron, rose petals, turmeric and licorice root (many of which I use in my recipes!). Add to that a toner of rose and basil and a cleanser whose main ingredient was coconut oil and you have a very beautiful and toxic free product. The total range of Ayurda skincare is 100% natural, free from synthetic chemicals, SLS, artificial preservatives and Parabens. Ayurda does not test on animals.

For more information about their skincare products visit the website.

4pm Pick Up Biscuits

Creating and filing a healthy biscuit barrel isn’t a chore with these yummy 4pm Pick Up Biscuits which not only stave off hunger pangs but also nourish children from the inside out. They are one of my new recipes from my just released book Supercharged Food for Kids.

Every parent has encountered the hullaballoo surrounding a chaotic after school pick up, stuck in an endless car line, disgruntlement rising as every traffic light turns to red and mum or dad trying to navigate across town in the fastest way possible to make it in time to drop the kids off at after school activities. By the time they hit the car kids are usually quite hungry and can be tired and irritable after a long school day, so it’s important to create good eating patterns at this critical time and feed them a snack which is nutritious as well as being delicious.

The Australian National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey which was conducted in 2007 found that almost 50% of all children surveyed eat biscuits, cakes and pastries after school. These would more often than not be processed and contain high amounts of sugar, bad fats and be devoid of nutrition. A good snack to give kids is something which will keep them full until dinner and give them energy for after school activities. (more…)

I Quit Sugar Chocolate Cookbook

Chocolate Nut Butter Cups

I love it when I find a cookbook that reduces me to recipe overwhelm.

More often than not – when scouring through recipe books I am left with only a one or two post it notes sticking out after I discover that the recipes in the book are mostly too difficult, don’t work out the way they are supposed to or full of allergy promoting ingredients.

I was given the opportunity to review and get stuck into the recipes in Sarah Wilson’s IQS Chocolate Cookbook.

The book is littered with so many delicious chocolate recipes from breakfast right through to the requisite afternoon treats that I have decided to approach it as I would a literary novel, starting on page one and finishing at the end and working my way through all of the recipes section by section.

From Chocolate Protein balls to Sweet Potato and Macadamia Brownies and a whole chapter on reinventing classics – the emphasis on health means that you won’t need a celebration to cater for in order to enjoy chocolate!

If you like chocolate, and love the idea of inventive chocolate creations using minimal ingredients – then I really do recommend this book.

Filled to the brim with chocolate delights delivered in the typical minimalist fashion and ethos Sarah Wilson so perfectly espouses.

You can own your own copy here…

And if you missed it in the last newsletter here is a yummy Beetroot Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe...

Beetroot Red Velvet Cupcakes

Makes 12

Ingredients:

2 large beetroots grated raw (don't bother peeling)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
1 1/2 cups of almond meal
4 tablespoons raw cacao powder
3 tablespoons coconut oil (or olive oil)
1/4 rice malt syrup
1 teaspoon of baking powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 170C (340 F) and line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases. Blend all ingredients (in a blender or with a stick blender) until it's a smooth batter, then divide between the 12 cases and cook for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Serve alone or topped with thick Greek yoghurt or cream cheese frosting (with the rind of one lemon added to the mix).

Click here to buy Sarah's new book.

Smoked Salmon and Pistachio Terrine

One of my favourite things to do on weekends is to catch up with my girlfriends and prepare a delicious sample spread of pot luck bits and pieces!

Interestingly, after a solid year of writing my Kids’ cookbook, I have decided that there is something inherently comforting about eating food in small, finger like portions. In fact the secret to feeding fussy children lies in the art of chopping and creating food in an imaginative way and I believe we must all secretly take delight in having food prepared into fun, bite size morsels!

And so it was with much satisfaction that I recently added to my repertoire another Supercharged staple to encourage people to up their intake of essential fatty acids, protein and vegetables. (more…)

Cacao Bomb Crackles

Here’s a recipe from my brand new book Supercharged Food for Kids.

It’s crackle time! You’ve probably all witnessed the unhealthy versions of these hanging around on the table at every kid’s birthday party, loved unconditionally by children and parents alike. These crunchy, crackles of puffed rice are essentially an old fashioned treat that I have always yearned to recondition for a real food 21st century.

Using real food will teach your child to appreciate food’s natural flavours and develop and understanding of what real food actually tastes like and this recipe is the perfect example. If you skip the sugar-filled, artificially flavoured party treats and instead opt for a healthier version it will ensure you are meeting your child’s nutritional needs with a good supply of magnesium and iron from the raw cacao and B vitamins from brown rice puffs. Coconut oil and butter will add stickiness and sweetness and provide a great all round anti-fungal and anti-bacterial element. (more…)

Spinach Ice Cream

Despite staying away from lactose I'm still very much partial to a scoop of delicious ice cream at times.

The little kid in me still get's excited when I crack open a fresh tub of creamy home made confection.

As the saying goes, necessity breeds the mother of invention and having recently delved into the art of kids food, I managed to strike the perfect balance- ice cream, blasted green with nourishing spinach under the guise of peppermint. You follow me?

Its Bliss. I know you may think that spinach and ice cream are a pair of ingredients most likely to end up on the cutting room floor, but believe me when I tell you this, they make a lovely refreshing partnership. Bananas bring grown up spinach back down to earth and it's distinctive flavour is well hidden when combined with coconut milk and mint.

(more…)

Hazelnut, Chocolate and Berry Pudding

Gee whizz. This recipe has only three steps. Whizz, chill and scatter.

It's funny what emerges when you combine hazelnuts, avocado, berries and cacao. Enter a spankingly delicious pud that’ll rock the socks off any pudding seen sitting around in coffee shops and cake stalls, whispering in honeyed tones inviting you in, but then leaving you and your gurgling stomach with discomforting memories and promises of never again.

The quiet, shy hazelnut, often outshone by the more headstrong and petulant almond, sits quietly on the sidelines awaiting an opportune time to make her presence known and in this melt-in-your-mouth dessert her sass twinkles and gleams. You really have to take your hat off to the hazelnut, grown in a tough and protective outer shell, it’s only when taking the time to scratch beneath the surface, that you are able to reap the many nutritional benefits that this self-effacing nut provides.

Dig a little deeper and you’ll discover a vitamin and mineral live-wire, containing... (more…)

Bupa Health Influencer Awards

Eggplant and Green Bean Curry

My usual approach to vegetables is to bake, steam or stir-fry them with garlic but this year I’m determined to improve my culinary skills when it comes to cooking vegetables.

This recipe comes straight out of my Eat Clean, Green and Vegetarian recipe book.

I’ve used a healthier oil, coconut oil and substituted activated almonds. Homemade curry paste works really beautifully and it’s a gorgeous curry, richly layered, warming and packed with melding flavours. (more…)

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