Here is a quick and almighty delicious raw ball recipe for day 6 of Nutritional November! Because it’s the weekend and who doesn’t deserve Chocolate AND peanut butter on the weekend!! This is one of my favourite “ball” recipes! (My mint spirulina ones are joy too >> recipe here!) So easy. So quick! And they are great for the freezer! Make a batch (or two) this weekend!
If there is something that I excel at in life… it is snacking! Road trips, aeroplane flights (I swear my bag is always 50% food), weekend escapes, movie dates… you name it, I’ve got the snacks covered. I am honestly like a child. The only way to keep me happy is occupying me with food. Continue reading “SNACK HAPPY”
Why is it that something as simple as drinking water can be so difficult to remember? If I don’t have my water bottle on me and am consciously making an effort to drink water, then I will get to the end of the day without even a drip. Of course there is water in my daily coffee or two and 6 cups of tea BUT this does NOT count! Nope not even in the slightest. And before your clever little Melbourne Cup brain thought that having a few vodka lime and soda WATERS yesterday also counted – you are wrong!! Drinking alcohol is an even bigger reason to be guzzling back the water. Continue reading “DRINK YOUR WATER”
We live in a world where we’re made to feel guilty about food; don’t eat this, don’t eat that, this will kill you, that will kill you. Of course a lot of this is true, but you can take any food, create negative thoughts around it and actually make it unhealthier to consume with those stressful thoughts. After all, stress depletes nutrients from the body too. Nutritional November rule NUMBER ONE … don’t feel guilty. Just enjoy it! And not only is it Treat Yo Self Tuesday BUT Melbourne Cup Day so have some fun and love yourself for it. Continue reading “ENJOY THE HECK OUT OF IT”
Let’s get up 20 minutes earlier to make a killer healthy and nutritious smoothie bowl this Monday morning to kick the week and Nutritional November off to a great start. I am currently on the other side of the world to Australia in a gorgeous AirBnb in Lisbon, Portugal so apologies for the delay and time difference. I will try my best to get these posts up in time for your morning read. Try this quick and easy fiber and protein packed smoothie bowl. Here is a quick summary of the ingredients and their benefits. Keep it simple! Continue reading “MATCHA CHOC MINT SMOOTHIE BOWL”
Montenegro is a country that many people don’t even know about, me being one of them, but has grown to become a popular holiday hot spot over the last decade. My friend was the one to recommend it to me and I am so glad that I went. Whether you’re coming from Dubrovnik or Split, Croatia, Tirana, Albania or Mostar, Bosnia you won’t be expected to pay more than approximately 15 Euro for a bus fair to Montenegro. Or simply do what we did and try and score a cheap flight into Podgorica.
Continue reading “MONTENEGRO; K+K’s FIT AND HEALTHY GUIDE TO”
Okay so I’ve been meaning to get this one up for aggggggges now but have never found the time. BUT whilst sitting on the plane to Spain I have nothing but time so here goes!
It all started back in July in my birthday week. I couldn’t decide what cake I wanted to celebrate my 25th bday with…. Cheesecake or lemon meringue pie? Both of which are my all time favourite desserts! The lemon meringue pie I made for Mother’s Day recipe HERE was an absolute hoot. Oh and the choc base lemon curd tart too recipe HERE, but then cheesecake is my fave. And then boom it hit me. Why limit yourself to one when you can layer them and have BOTH! So I used the ever faithful Sarah Wilson I quit sugar recipes as a base and combined this killer dessert! Fair to say I had a super sweet birthday minus the sugar!! 
CRUNCHY NUT BAKED CHEESECAKE WITH LEMON CURD AND MERINGUE
Serves 8 – GF DF* P SF – 3 hours
BASE
1 cup oats or LSA mix
1 cup almonds or pistachios/hazelnuts (use another but other than almonds here if you used LSA above)
120gms coconut oil or butter
1 cup desiccated coconut
2 Tbs rice malt syrup
pinch of salt
dash of cinnamon
CHEESECAKE FILLING
2 Tbs Greek yoghurt
4 Tbs Full fat coconut cream
1 cup cream cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 Lemon juiced and zest
1/2 cup rice malt syrup
1 vanilla bean
LEMON CURD
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 whole eggs
6 egg yolks (save the whites)
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
3 Tbs rice malt syrup
1 tsp stevia
MERINGUE
6 egg whites
2 Tbs rice malt syrup
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
Line or spray a deep pie / tart tin.
Place the ingredients for the crust in a food processor and process until combined. The more you blend the more the oils from the nuts are released. Add more butter or coconut oil if necessary. Take out and press into a lined cake or tart dish working your way up the sides. Remember it is not just a base but a crust for the filling so make it deep!
Place crust in the oven for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile combine the cheesecake ingredients in a clean food processor. Careful not too over process. You just want the lumps gone and watch out for any lemon pips whilst squeezing!
Pour the cheesecake filling into the cooled tart crust. Place in oven for 20-30 minutes until it bakes and goes hard or set like jelly. Don’t over cook!
For the lemon curd, melt the coconut oil on the stove. Add the rice malt and lemon juice/zest. Slowly add the eggs and yolks whilst whisking. Careful not to over boil the curd otherwise you will end up with lemon scrambled eggs! When it begins to thicken lift it off the heat and whisk in mid air. Add back to the heat if necessary. Leave to cool. Pour over the cheesecake layer and set aside.
For the final layer of this epic cake / pie / tart you need to make the meringue. Either with some good old elbow grease or electric beaters beat the egg whites and rice malt until it starts to go white and glossy. You want it to hold its form and make peaks. About 3-5 minutes. Slop the meringue mixture onto the lemon curd layer. When it is covered use the whisk or a spoon to create some peaks for aesthetic purposes.
Place the whole cake into the oven for 6-8 minutes until the meringue has browned at the tips. Careful not to burn or grill it! Just a light browning it will do.
Take out and place in fridge to set for 2 hours or overnight! When it’s time to eat it take it out and sprinkle with some matcha green tea powder if you have it!
Serve huge slabs of this beauty and enjoy! I couldn’t believe how amazingly yum and sweet this cake was. The perfect amount of savoury creamy lemony ricotta and tangy sweet curd, crunchy base and fluffy top ahhhhhhh just make it! You can even freeze any left over slices (left over… Is there such a thing?)
K
Food, fitness and wellbeing has been a huge part of my life the last couple of years and – so I did what every half talented minor out there with a computer did – I started a blog. Read my first blog post >> HERE.
It started off as something personal for myself and has now grown into my passion. I learnt that people weren’t interested in the sugar coated glossy fitspo crap and more about relating to other people’s personal struggles and real life issues. I didn’t realise how many people were experiencing the same things as me and thought that no matter what I wrote there was someone I could help or relate to. This is why I get so much out of my blog too.
So 12 months on, what is Kale and the Kettlebell really about? What have I achieved in opening my soul to a bunch of randoms over the global internet? What should you read my blog as opposed to one of the other thousand health and fitness blogs popping up each day? Well I’ve got you reading this far so I must be doing something half right!!
I wanted my blog to be delicious. A journal for my recipes online so everyone can share my goodness. Also because I got tired of hand writing (yes …) out the millions of recipes I came across on the net and then spilling coffee on them. Oh and practically gave myself an RSI from print screening drool worthy creations on my phone. Actually I still do that who am I kidding? Print screen is the best feature on the iPhone. Or is it the selfie cam? haha
I wanted my blog to be inspiring. You know what you are lying in bed thinking you should get up, kick goals, work out or do something productive but don’t and then you see some inspirational quote or absolute babe and boom your up and atem (at em?). Or maybe some inspiration for myself to do exactly that – get shit done!
I wanted my blog to be creative. Not just 1 cup of this, 12 push ups that. I wanted it to be quirky and expressive. Probably half the reason I don’t spell check (Rob’s mum is an editor and I can just feel her cringe at once glance of my post) or try to over write each post because I want it to be from the heart, a bit random, fun and just like me. I wanted to share stories, be weird and make people laugh. The more ‘me’ I allowed my blog to be the more I discovered about myself.
I wanted my blog to be honest. There are a lot of blogs out there and articles you read where you just feel miserable after because the people seem invincible and perfect. People who never have bad days, are always looking immaculate, abs and tans every day of the year and cocktails always in hand, no tears in sight. Well let me just tell you I have bad days, I cry, I throw it all in, I never look immaculate, I don’t have abs and I certainly don’t spend my life drinking cocktails or doing yoga poses. I used to struggle with my thoughts, my weight and overall happiness with myself. You wouldn’t have known it because I never wrote about it until recently but everyone has a daily struggle.
Yes there have been times that have been far from successful or pretty. There are times where I haven’t thought that highly of myself or the blog. I’ve wanted to delete it. Change my name. Start fresh. Be anonymous. But if you can’t stop thinking about it then don’t stop fighting for it right? I decided to keep going and the more people commented on how much they love it and how inspired they are by the way I write the more into it I got. Fair to say my blog and I went to second base ;) One lovely girl said she has recently lost 15kg and every time she felt like giving up she would read my blog. Another said she stayed up for hours one night reading it without realising the time because she was so intrigued and engulfed by my writing. Companies contacted me saying how much they loved my pages and zest for life (no I do not promote companies no matter how much free stuff they offer – I only promote what I love and works for me.) No skinny tea and teeth whitening here… Although my teeth could do with some whitening…. Anyone? Just kidding.
Have I changed as a person in the last year? You know it. The blog has made me more open and verbal about my love for health and fitness and made me stumble across some amazing fit people that inspire me along the way. The two biggest and hardest things are CHANGE and BALANCE. No one likes change and trying to find balance can also be much harder than you think.
ALLOW YOURSELF TO FIND HAPPINESS IN BALANCE;
Balance… ahh the word that we all suck at the most. I am an all or nothing person and so balance is a biggie with me. Learn how to stay up late in high heels drinking cocktails with friends on a Saturday and then go for a walk and have a green smoothie on Sunday morning. I have adapted from the 90% 10% to a more 70-30 as of late and my mind and body is better for it. I eat healthy and green to nourish and fuel my body and I eat chocolate to nourish and fuel my smile and brain! Balance is the most important part of life and a lot of people spend their whole life struggling to find it. Whether it be family, friends, work, hobbies, fitness … Anything. Find your balance.
CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE TO FITNESS AND EXERCISE;
I used to think exercise was just a way to work off the bad food I ate. The gym was a chore for me, something that I HAD to do and not necessarily enjoyed. I would dread going to Attack but knew it meant I could eat cake later. I would workout for an hour plus each time and not be satisfied unless I broke decent sweat. Phwwwooooah have things have changed. Now exercise is just a part of my life, something I love and not a chore. I now workout much, much less (well pretty non existent at the moment to be completely honest) and allow myself to rest. I also found enjoyment in the non-sweaty/vigorous styles of exercise like yoga, pilates and just simply walking. Because exercise doesn’t have to be all sweat and tears.
CHANGE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD;
Uhh oh! I wrote a whole post on food relationships >> HERE as this is such a big issue in our modern society. This balance took me the longest to realise because your relationship with food can be a serious addiction. I saw food as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. I cut out all the ‘bad’ food and restricted food groups, made food diaries, counted calories and cut carbs. Yikes i know!! Well glad those days are over. I learnt to eat when I was hungry not at a certain hour. I stopped punishing myself for eating bad food. I started eating foods that were enjoyable to eat and nourishing for my body and foods that I craved and liked. I learnt to eat slowly and mindfully and to enjoy every mouthful.
LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF;
I have also learnt to love myself and I can’t “stress” how much this has helped me both physically and mentally. My body is an amazing machine and I wasn’t giving it enough credit or love. Even at my lowest weight I wasn’t happy and this constant stress made my cortisol levels increase (off the rikta) which caused a world of hormonal issues. I carry my weight around my stomach like a 4 year old running around the pool with a turtle ring floatation device. But I learnt that excessive tummy fat is due to high stress levels and my mental state was making me retain that fat no matter how hard I tried to remove it. Go figure. I stopped caring about what other people thought of me and learnt to love myself. Because this is MY life. Only I can live it and caring about what others think only makes me insecure and hold back.
ALLOW YOURSELF TO LOOSE ROUTINE AND TRAVEL OFTEN;
Well I think quitting my job, selling my car and bed and flying across the world speaks for itself with this? The more people I meet along the way, the more I realise what a huge and BRAVE thing I am doing. There is so much of the world I haven’t seen and cannot wait to experience it. Even if you can’t travel as often as you like just book a weekend away to somewhere you haven’t been. Because travel is the only thing in life you can buy that will make your richer…
What’s in the pipes for Kale and the Kettlebell over the next year? More change? More balance? Eeeeeek!!! Who knows? At the moment I am traveling the world and experiencing what hidden treasures (and food) is out there. When I reside in London after Christmas I will start a new and more routined style of life and find my new locals for the daily grind. So far the black truffle in England’s lane, Camden is my fave Bonsoy flatty. Oh and when the money tree stops growing i’ll have to get a job right?
I will always be passionate about my blog and health and fitness … Because I am here to live long and happily. This little lady is going to be rocking those push ups (ok maybe only savasanas) when she’s 80! Because a body treated well – is a body for life!
Watch this space
K
With the Aussie Rules Grand Final weekend JUST around the corner – *cough* Carn West Coast *cough* or even just a long weekend for some Eastern States, you are guaranteed to have a beverage in hand. I did a little bit of research on which alcohol is the best for us (or shall I say better than the rest), and the pro’s and con’s of red, white, champas and beer.
RED WINE
Pro’s – we all know that red wine is packed with antioxidants; resveratrol and flavonoids. These antioxidants are good for your heart health and for lowering choleserol. Bonus! Red Wine is also very low in fructose making it Sarah Wilson’s, author ‘I Quit Sugar’ drink of choice.
Con’s – You mean the deliciously attractive red wine stain you get on your mouth isn’t attractive? Well no not quite although if you keep your mouth closed it might give you that deep purple Revlon colour you have been wanting. That aside you need to drink A LOT of red wine to benefit enough from the antioxidants however in doing so you will counteract any of the benefits by most likely passing out and causing a lot of liver damage.
WHITE WINE
Pro’s – so what about Red wines ‘cleaner’ friend white wine? Other than the perfect partner for a white outfit, white wine has been proven to have health benefits for your lungs and lung tissue.
Con’s – It is far more acidic than the red variety and therefore not fantastic for your chompas (teeth). White wine also contains the same amount of calories as red sans the heart healthy antioxidants so it is therefore less nutritious.
CHAMPAGNE
Pro’s – a glass of bubbly can actually have the same heart and health benefits as red wine minus the calories. This is because it’s made from red, as well as white, grapes, and therefore contains most resveratrol. Champagne also contains polyphenol antioxidants, which further protects the heart in its own way. If you are concerned about calorie content in alcohol, bubbles might be the drink for you. Due to the smaller glass/serving size you can sip away the same amount of drinks as your wine drinking friends yet consuming far less, which is good for your health and sobriety.
Con’s – nice champagne comes with a pretty hefty price tag which can sometimes make you grab the cheaper ‘on special’ variety. Uhhh ohh! Unfortunate for some, a glass of bubbles can also cause severe migranes.
BEER
Pro’s – the nutritional value of beer exceeds that of wine. The values of protein, fiber, B vitamins, folate and niacin found in beer make it more like food. Beer has also been found to increase your bone density and be beneficial to your skin. Apparently the hops in beer have also been proven to reduce obesity – but that was tested on mice so take it with a pinch of salt. It does however contain next to no sugar and fructose.
Con’s – excessive amounts of beer can lead to liver damage and pack a large calorie punch. It is also very high in carbohydrates. Oh and beer guts aren’t sexy!
Overall ??
The truth is any type of alcohol can offer life-extending benefits. When it comes to which alcoholic beverage to order – neither is healthier than the other. It isn’t the type of alcohol but more the frequency and quantity when reaping benefits.
Although many people suggest that drinking a glass of red is like drinking to your health, a pint of beer can be the same. While the calories can add up, the alcohol content is lower in beer meaning you can have more casual afternoon brewskies without falling over. At the end of the day order what you enjoy more – because alcohol is to be enjoyed not abused.
PS EAGLES FOR THE 2015 PREMIERSHIP FLAG – bring it home boys!!!!
Who loves a clean slate? (Insert little girl emoji with her hand in the air!!) I am all about the Monday fresh start each week especially after indulgent and eventful weekends. Then there are the new months and even the new seasons. It is starting to feel like a lot of things in my life are new at the moment. New country, new house, new non job, new local coffee spot… new life really. Continue reading “NEW MONTH NEW GOALS NEW CHANGE”
KATIE MORGAN 
