I have been enjoying the luxury of delicious pre-organised meals this past week! The team at Dietlicious have kept my hunger at bay whilst detoxing my insides as I made my way through their 5-day dietician designed Cleansing Diet Program. I’ll give you a little snapshot of the scrummy meals I was indulging in whilst on the program! On day one I began with a cleansing lemon in water, followed by a Watermelon, mint and acai smoothie. My chicken tagine with quinoa for lunch was proceeded by a nutritious nut and seed mix and I was give a box of lovely fresh seasonal fruit to choose from for an afternoon snack with ginger tea. My dinner for day 1 was a Thai red tofu curry with stir fry vegetables, followed by a piece of fruit as a healthy alternative to a fat-laden dessert.

The Cleanse Program is preservative, additive, dairy, wheat and red meat free and the meals come pre-packaged for convenience. Although you all know I absolutely love to cook, it was a really welcome change to have a quick and easy nutritious meal ready to go. The Cleanse program is only one of the various meal plans on offer and you can personalize the plans so that they are targeted specifically to your needs.  

Dietlicious was launched by Janel Horton and her company Gourmet Dinner Service in 2011 and continues to be one of the leading Meal Delivery services in Australia.

I would really recommend Dietlicious for anyone time-poor and looking for a healthy alternative to those salt and preservative-laden meals found in the frozen meal section of the supermarket. 

Mixed Leaf Seeded Salad with Cashew Nut Mayo

Move over apples, I think the age old saying needs to be re-written to “a SALAD a day keeps the doctor away”.  I know that whenever I’m feeling a little under the weather, if my body feels a tad on the acidic side, or if I can sense a bug coming on; a beautiful, colourful, crunchy salad is the perfect pick-me-up.

If you don’t include at least one raw salad into your day, now’s the time to start. Millions of people, especially in the western world, eat diets that are dominated by packaged, lifeless, additive, and sugar filled foods. When illness arrives (which will inevitably happen with this kind of lifestyle), the answer is generally some form of pharmaceutical medicine. But eating a diet that is plentiful in raw veggies in a range of colours is probably one of the cheapest forms of medicine; both preventative, and in many cases curative, that you could ever access; minus the side effects!

The wonderful thing about salads, is that they’re quick, easy, and have the potential to be one of the most delicious meals you’ve ever devoured. Don’t for a second think that salads have to be a drab, flavour-less experience; you can mix and match, or add and subtract a multitude of components to get the exact blend of flavours for your own personal taste. You can also add nuts and seeds to give it some protein and bulk your spectacular salad up into a satisfying lunch or dinner. Also, concocting your own delicious dressings, whether creamy, zingy or sweet, is so much more satisfying than any of those watery supermarket creations that are designed to survive longer than the average human! (more…)

The perfect winter salad

This recipe is legen...wait for it...dary.  I absolutely adore pumpkins, and they’re really going off at this time of year. Whenever I’m blessed enough to have one of these golden girls at home, the first thing that comes to mind is pumpkin soup. But there are so many other possibilities with this versatile wonder vegetable, and limiting it to a standard soup, or even a jack o’ lantern isn’t giving this vegetable the recognition it deserves.

Pumpkins are one of my favourite veggies, because they’re so sumptuously sweet and oh-so comforting. In the cooler months that’s all you really want right? Something that’s going to fire off your senses, but also give you that big hearty cuddle that wholesome cooked veggies can bring. A raw salad is often the last thing you want to dig into in the middle of an icy, wearisome day. It can sometimes feel like a punishment having to dig your teeth into such a crunchy, cold concoction. When the warm weather hits, sure; bring on the raw, juicy, cold veggies. Pile them on high. But when the cooler months arrive, you need something a little bit more welcoming; and a bit of gorgeous, glowing, roasted pumpkin can really make the difference. (more…)

You can find the recipe here.

I love food just as much as the next person and just because I'm on a wholefoods diet doesn't mean I miss out on delicious foods or compromise my taste buds.

It also means that I don't have to stake out weirdly named super foods hand-picked by natives in the wilds of the Congo or from the far corners of a tropical rain forest. There are no strange names like camu camu or macca powder on my shopping list.

If you're looking for inspiration, the key to motivating yourself to cook starts with a well-stocked pantry and good food on hand.  My shopping list can vary depending on produce in season, what is available and what's on special.

The golden rule when you’re planning to shop is to remember to try and include organic ingredients where possible and try and swap out processed and packet food for fresh.  Look at the label and if it has more than 10 ingredients then it's probably not going to be good for you.

Here are some everyday foods that you can buy at your local supermarket, farmer's market, wholefoods store or online that will help you eat your way to health...

Vegetables

• Artichoke
• Asparagus
• Avocado
• Bok Choy
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Capiscum
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Cress
• Cucumber
• Daikon
• Eggplant
• Fennel
• Garlic
• Green Beans
• Kale
• Leek
• Lettuce
• Okra
• Olives
• Onions
• Pumpkin
• Radishes
• Rocket
• Rutabaga
• Shallot
• Snow Peas
• Yellow Baby squash
• Spinach
• Spring Onion
• Sprouts (all)
• Tomatoes
• Turnip
• Water Cress
• Zucchini

Meats:

(Preferably Organic)

• Beef
• Lamb
• Pork
• Chicken
• Duck
• Turkey
• Quail
• Organ Meats
• Veal

Seafood:

• Salmon wild caught
• Fresh Fish
• Anchovies
• Prawns
• Squid
• Tuna
• Sardines
• Scallops
• Sashimi
• Oysters
• Sea Vegetables

Eggs Organic

• Chicken
• Goose
• Duck

Dairy (if tolerated)

• Organic Butter
• Cream

Fats & Oils

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (cold pressed)
• Coconut Oil (extra virgin)
• Seed & Nut Oils
• Sesame Oil

Nuts and Nut Butters

• Hazelnut
• Brazil
• Macadamia
• Pecan
• Walnut
• Almond
• Pumpkin Seeds

Flours and Baking

• Almond Flour
• Coconut Flour
• Buckwheat Flour
• Brown Rice Flour
• Quinoa
• Buckwheat
• Millet
• Amaranth
• Baking Powder (gluten and additive free)
• Bi Carb of Soda
• Cacao Powder
• Cacao Nibs
• Cacao Butter
• Coconut Flakes
• Alcohol Free Vanilla Essence
• Vanilla Beans

Herbs/Spices

• Basil
• Rosemary
• Oregano
• Coriander
• Parsley
• Sage
• Thyme
• Tarragon
• Chives
• Ginger, Nutmeg, Cinnamon

Condiments

• Mustard Powder
• Eden Foods Mustard with ACV
• Celtic Sea Salt
• Fresh Black Pepper
• Wheat Free Tamari Sauce
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Stevia drops
• Stevia Powder
• Tahini

Fruits

(Low in fructose)

• Lemons
• Limes
• Berries
• Stone Fruits
• All other fruits in moderation

Supplements

• Calcium
• Magnesium
• Probiotics
• Cod Liver Oil
• Nutritional Yeast Flakes
• Vitamin C Vitamin E

Beverages

• Decaf Coffee/Tea
• Herbal Tea
• Dandelion Tea
• Coconut Water
• Mineral Water
• Soda Water

Healthy Home

• Epsom Salts
• White Vinegar
• Eucalyptus Oil
• Lemon Juice
• Tea Tree Oil

You can purchase baking items, nutritional yeast flakes and stevia here...

Happy Shopping 🙂

Lee xo