Choc Raspberry Smoothie Bowl

Raspberries & chocolate are one of my favourite combos… pair that with a silky smooth avocado based protein smoothie bowl, I’m in heaven!

So simple …

Throw into a food processer and blend until smooth:

• x1 Medium Avocado
• 1 tablespoon raw cacao powder
• 2 scoops NuZest Clean Lean Vanilla protein Powder
• A drop of coffee essence (if desired)
• A sprinkle of stevia if extra stevia is desired
• A couple of ice cubes (if your blender can cope)
• Approx 1/2 cup coconut cream (start with less, and add as much as needed to achieve a thick, creamy consistency)

Pour smoothie mixture into a bowl, and top with berries, shaved chocolate, toasted coconut, or anything else that takes your fancy!

 

Keto Cloud Bread

A Low, carb high fat, ketogenic option that are more of a bread alternative than a substitute, as they are quite an eggy, cloud-like texture. But they sure are versatile … I enjoyed a couple with peanut butter, one with my burger bowl for dinner, and my favourite? As pancakes with butter and no-sugar Maple Syrup.

What’s more? Only TWO ingredients!

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 250g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• Pinch of salt

Method

• Separate 3 eggs – whites in one bowl, yolks in another.
• Add a small pinch of salt to both eggs and whites
• Use a beater/mixer to mix 250g Philadelphia cream cheese into the yolks.
• Optional: You can add some savoury flavouring into yolk mix if you want to make them more savoury (e.g. herbs and spices) OR a bit of stevia if you want to make them sweet
• Beat the whites until they form stiff peaks
• Gently fold the egg white mixture into the yolk mixture, careful not to over-mix so the mixture doesn’t ‘deflate’ and become too runny
• Scoop mixture onto a lined tray into little ‘bread’ circles
• Bake in oven at 180℃ for 20-30mins

 

Green Veggie Open Omelette

This Frittata style omelette makes a perfect breakfast, lunch or dinner! Packed full of protein, nutrient rich veggies and satiating fats, to me, it is the perfect meal!

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Omelette:

• 12 eggs
• 1 brown onion
• 1 leek
• 1 head broccoli (or a couple of cups of frozen/cooked broccoli florets)
• 1 cup lightly cooked spinach
• 2 tomatoes
• 2-3 large orange kumara, cut into 0.5mm-1cm slices & cooked (optional)
• Grated cheese
• Coconut oil or Ghee
• Salt & Pepper

Sides/Garnish:

• Sauerkraut
• Basil
• Watercress
• Chermoula
• Aioli
• Bacon
• Portobello Mushrooms

Method:

Note: I used silicone cake pans for mine (I wanted to serve individual round open omelettes and these allow me to cook them simultaneously in the oven and are easy to flip out. But you can also divide mixture into ramekins or loaf tins (use baking paper for easy serving), or, just one big pan.

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil or ghee in a large pan
2. Sauté onion and leeks
3. In a bowl, whisk the eggs together with some salt & pepper
4. Add in onions & leeks (once cooled) along with cooked spinach and broccoli
5. Divide mixture into cooking vessels
6. Grease silicone cake pan with coconut oil or ghee
7. Layer cooked kumara slices on the base of each pan (leave out for keto)
8. Evenly spread the veggie mixture between pan
9. Evenly distribute egg mixture between pans (I did two ladles per pan – you want the egg mixture to almost cover the veggie mix
10. Add 2-4 tomato slices to each omelette and sprinkle with cheese (optional)
11. Place omelettes into a pre-heated oven (180ºC) and cook for 15-20mins (until egg mixture is set) … you can pop the oven on grill for the last few mins if you want more of a crispy top
12. To serve, I flipped each omelette out onto a spare plate and then flipped (right side up) onto serving plate. Then top with your sides or garnishes.

• I added two rashers of bacon to each, 2 grilled Portobello Mushrooms, some fresh Watercress, Green Herby Chermoula and Beetroot Sauerkraut. Seasoned with some cracked pepper, and popped a bit of Aioli on the side
• Adapt the recipe to suit your tastes or preferences. You could obviously include the mushrooms and bacon in the omelette mixture if you prefer.

Yellow Coconut Chicken & Veggie Curry

Serves 4-8 (depending on portion size)

Note: There are two ways I make this – fast and slow. Both work, I just prefer the slow-cooker sometimes for convenience and softening the veggies/meat…

Also, you can leave out the chicken to make it vegetarian/vegan friendly.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 Brown Onion diced
• 2 Large Tablespoons of Yellow Curry Paste
• 2 Tablespoons of Fish Sauce (more if you like)
• Splash of lemon juice and/or white vinegar (for tartness)
• 2-4 tsp Soy Sauce
• Salt (to taste)
• Ground cumin – 1-2 tsp
• Ground coriander – 1-2 tsp
• 500-700g Boneless Chicken thigh or breast (thigh tends to be more flavoursome & tender)
• Seasonal Veggies (whatever you like or is reasonably prices – I like pumpkin, mushrooms, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, courgettes, capsicum)
• Frozen vegetables e.g. 1 packet of Watties Chinese Mix or equivalent, frozen spinach, frozen Okra, frozen peas (I use more or less of this depending on how many fresh veggies I have used)
• Fresh coriander – to garnish
• Coconut Cream – 2 tins or 1 carton (I like to use the thick part only, so the sauce is not too watery)

Method

1. Heat a pan with the sesame oil and then add the diced chicken to brown the outsides  – cook for 2-3 mins the remove and keep to the side for now
2. Sauté the onion in the pan until cooked through/translucent and then add the curry paste, stirring and adding a bit of water if it starts to catch on the bottom.
3. When paste/onion mixture has darkened slightly add fish sauce, soy sauce, lemon juice or vinegar & other spices
4. At this stage, either remove from the pan and add to Crockpot along with chicken and all the other veggies (and coconut cream) OR add your fresh veggies to the pan and cook along with curry paste/spice mix for 5mins or so.
5. Then add the frozen veggies to the pan along with your sautéed  chicken and the coconut cream.
6. Gently simmer until all cooked through.
7. Taste for flavour and seasoning and salt or more fish sauce or curry powder to your liking (and/or chilli flakes if you like more of a kick)

 

Appendix:

These are the curry pastes I like and coconut creams I use (I am for ones with the highest percentage coconut, as opposed to mostly water/emulsifiers). 

 

Roasted Potato Salad

My take on the kiwi summer staple – potato salad! Personally, I find this much tastier and less stodgy without the overload of cheap filler dressing…but, if you are a fan of the stuff, then try slathering this salad with one of the options below …

INGREDIENTS

• 500g washed potatoes
• 1 large onion
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 Tablespoons Ghee
• Coconut oil or Olive oil

• 2-3 stems spring onions
• 1/2- 3/4 cups of cooked peas
• Salt & Pepper
• Fresh coriander and mint – roughly chopped

 

 Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees bake
2. Cut potatoes into halves or quarters so that they are medium to small chunks
3. Lay out potatoes on an oven tray and coat them in spices, salt and pepper, ghee and oil
4. Roast until cooked and outsides are golden
5. Once potatoes are cooked and slightly cooled, toss chopped spring onions, herbs and cooked peas through. Add additional salt and pepper to season as needed.

 

DRESSING:

Option A: Yoghurt

Using a thick, plain and unsweetened greek yoghurt (or coconut yoghurt), finely chop some cucumber and mint and stir through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Lemon Juice can also be nice. Drizzle over Roast potato salad.

Option B: Wholesome Mayo

Blend together: Place 1 whole egg, 2 egg yolks,  a pinch of paprika, salt, 1 tsp dijon mustard into a blender. Allow to settle for a few minutes. Then add 3/4 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup  of coconut oil. Allow to settle for a couple of minutes and then blend until combined. Chill, then drizzle over potato salad.

*Why not just use a packaged potato salad dressing or mayo? Almost all of the dressings you can buy are made with vegetable oil (canola, sunflower, soybean) which is nasty stuff … not to mention sugar, preservatives and emulsifiers. 

 

 

Mumma B’s Slaw

Mumma B’s special slaw. Original recipe, fresh, flavourful and totally gluten free, vegan, dairy and sugar-free friendly! What more could you want?

The best part, is it is so simple.

For the slaw:

• Finely slice a mixture of white and purple cabbage (approximately 2-3 cups worth)
• Grate or finely slice carrot (approximately 1 cup)
• Finely slice 1/2 a red onion (for a less sharp taste, place in hot water briefly and strain before adding)
• Optional: Finely slice a radish or two

Mix together.

For the seasoning:

• In a pan, lightly toast 2 tsp of fennel seeds 2 tsp of coriander seeds. Slightly crush toasted seeds in spice grinder or mortar and pestle and add to the slaw.
• Chop fresh coriander (leaves and stalks) and add to slaw (as much or little as you like)

For the dressing:

• Dress the slaw with lime juice and olive oil (to taste)
• Optional: If sweetness is preferred, add a little raw honey or stevia
• Season with salt and pepper (to taste) ‘

Serve with your favourite Summer BBQ accompaniment or Mumma B’s chickpea wraps.  This slaw suits Mexican flavours particularly well!

Homesteader Hotcakes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup rolled oats (gf if celiac)
• 2 cups of milk (coconut milk for dairy free)
• 1-2 ripe mashed bananas
• 1 egg white
• ½ cup almond meal, ½ cup tapioca flour, ¼ cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Butter for cooking (or coconut oil)

METHOD

• Place the rolled oats in a bowl with 1 cup milk. Leave to soak while you whisk the egg white till stiff peaks form.
• Stir the banana in with the oats.

• In a large bowl sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon.
• Add the oat mixture and the other cup of milk and mix.
• Gently fold in the egg whites.

• Fry in butter or coconut oil – hotcakes should be golden and springy when pressed!