Holidays

We are off! We are heading off on a much needed holiday for the next four weeks. I have planned a couple of recipes for while we are away but things will be a little quieter around here. I will be back in May with regular recipes inspired by our travels.

Take care,

Clare x

Sugar headache cure: green juice

Happy Easter weekend! Hope you are all having an amazing long weekend. It the madness of Easter egg hunts and hot cross buns I thought I would give you something quick and easy. Maybe something to provide a little balance in an otherwise sugar heavy weekend. If you are like me after an afternoon of too much chocolate (we have all been there) you will be feeling fairly crappy. I have had a splitting headache all afternoon purely due to my sugar consumption. But the body has an amazing way of directing us to what it needs. With a few quick ingredients you can be back on the way up and not in the form of another sugar high.
When I have overloaded on sugar or other not so good for you foods my body sends me a very clear and strong message. Greens. Water. Now! Today, while crashing off a chocolate induced sugar high I reached for a green juice and a tall glass of water and it hit the spot. 

So in case you have found yourself in my position (it happens to the best of us) here is my go to pick-me-up to help you come back to balance.

Sugar headache cure: Green juice (serves 1)

2 stalks celery 

1/2 green apple

1/2 lemon (peeled)

1 cucumber

handful of kale 

1/2 tsp spirualina (optional)

Serve with a BIG glass of water. Try and find somewhere quiet to sit until you feel better.

Have a great long weekend!

sweet potato and apple bruschetta

We are heading towards cooler days here in Australia. When I wake in the morning to is still dark and today it was cold and wet. I'm not really a fan of cold weather but I do get excited about the change of season and the change in food at the farmers markets. As the weather cools down my mind goes to crisp apples, warm soups and homemade bread. I'm loving apples at the moment. I have been having apple slices with almond butter for breakfast, apple and kale salads for lunch and drinking warm spicy apple juice in the evenings. One morning I made this bruschetta for breakfast, it was fast, tasty and like Autumn on a plate.

The key to this is really good apples and good quality bread. Other than that you really can't go wrong. So if you give this a go make sure you get fresh new season apples not the kind that have sat in a fridge for nearly a year.

waste not, want not carrot cake

After years of waiting and procrastinating I finally bought myself a juicer.  After much research and tossing up the different options (and hugely different price tags) I finally got a Hurom Slow juicer which I found second hand on gumtree. The review that finally sold me was this one and I have to say I agree with everything they have said, it really is a pretty awesome juicer... and SO easy to clean. If you are in the market for a new kitchen appliance I really recommend keeping an eye on gumtree, although it may not be there exactly when you want it if you keep checking really good stuff gets posted, often at really good prices and it is a great way to get something often only lightly used.

One thing that has put me off buying a juicer is what to do with all the left over pulp. It seems very wasteful to throw it away but we don't currently have a compost system (this one is on the wish list!). So I have been brainstorming and researching ways to reuse the pulp from making juice.  This carrot cake was my first attempt to do some pulp recycling.  It was based on a carrot and oat cookie recipe I tried from another blog (which was a total flop, way to dry and hard... yuck) but it got me thinking about how to use the same idea to make something with my left over pulp. This cake is super moist and sweet but not sickly. It keeps well in the fridge but is really delicious either at room temperature or slightly warmed. I didn't ice it but if you like icing on cakes go ahead a have a go, I think it is pretty darn good the way it is. I made some very willing taste testers try it for me as well and we were all in agreement, it is a super delicious carrot cake. 

Adelaide Fringe 2013

 

Kev and I helped out making a video for the Adelaide Fringe a couple of weeks ago. Check it out!

amaranth, banana & coconut muffins

I have been experimenting with grinding my own flour in the blender. So far I'm finding that it is cheaper and the flours have a cleaner "fresher" taste to them but they will be a rough flour with some whole pieces of grain left. These muffins are a recent experiment using some of my home ground flour. They are gluten free and of course vegan and full of flavor. They are sweet but not super sweet. If you don't eat sugar you could leave it out but you may want to consider adding some chopped dried fruit to add some extra natural sweetness. Feel free to experiment with different types of flour and see how you go!

super green smoothies

If you have looked through many healthy living magazines, blogs or books lately you would have most likely heard about green smoothies. The basic idea is you blend a combo of leafy greens and fruit together to make a smoothie. Sounds gross? well yeah it can be. Green smoothies have become a bit of a fad with lots of people claiming all sorts of things about what they will do for your health. They have become so popular there are now whole websites dedicated to them, crazy! 
I started drinking them a while ago when I did a bit of a detox and they were part of the menu, and at first I thought it was like drinking pond slime for breakfast... yum. Then I worked out what I liked in them and what my poor cheap blender could manage (not whole apples!). Now I have one for breakfast most days and I not only love the taste but I feel amazing for the whole morning after. Who needs coffee in the morning when you can have a fruit sugar high instead? Not convinced? you need to give one a try. I have written out my favorite combos for you and then you can see for yourself.