Tag: GLUTENFREE

MANGO COCONUT MACADAMIA SMOOTHIE

Published on by Katie morgan3 Comments

This smoothie screams summer right here!! Not only is it the colour of the sunshine but it just makes you want to dive into it head first. Well at least for me it did!

Mango and coconut are a wonderful flavour combo and with the added creaminess of the macadamias you wont look back. Considered the worlds finest nut, the Macadamia is rich in energy and has a fantastic nutrient profile compromising of antioxidants, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Nuts are an excellent source of  protein and omega 3 fatty acids straight from mother nature. Add macadamias to your next smoothie or dessert or munch on a handful for afternoon tea.

smoothies

MANGO COCONUT AND MACADAMIA SMOOTHIE

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup frozen mango pieces

1/4 cup macadamia nuts

1 Tbs chia seeds

1/2 cup coconut yoghurt

1 cup almond milk / coconut water (1:1 ratio mix if you like)

Ice

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend. Top with some extra nuts or shredded coconut. Add a scoop of protein for the perfect post workout recovery snack or breakfast on the go.

Enjoy!

K

 

CHOC-MINT SMOOTHIE BOWL

Published on by Katie morgan3 Comments

Another ‘hot’ health craze going around at the moment is pouring your smoothie into a bowl and eating it with a spoon. Yep forget jars in 2015, it’s all about the bowls… and even more about the copious amounts of decorative toppings.

My favourite ice cream flavour would have to be choc mint hands down, followed closely by coconut. This smoothie bowl literally tastes like you have smashed a whole packet of Arnott’s mint slice. Definitely worth a try!

choc mint bowl

CHOC – MINT SMOOTHIE BOWL – serves 1

NOTE: this smoothie bowl has 2 components/halves but it still the one serve

GREEN HALF

2 frozen bananas

1 scoop protein (or LSA)

Handful spinach leaves

Small handful of mint leaves

1 Tbs almond butter

1 cup almond milk

1 scoop vanilla or chocolate whey protein

Blend until thick and well combined. Pour HALF into one side of a bowl.

CHOC HALF

With the other half remaining in the blender add

1 Tbs cacao powder

1 Tbs cacao nibs

dash of almond milk

and blend. Pour into other side of the bowl. Top with almonds, chia seeds, coconut, cacao nibs, goji berries or buckinis. Go wild!!

K

NUT FREE BANANA GRANOLA BARS

Published on by Katie morgan2 Comments

There are so many healthy alternatives to sugar coated LCM and muesli bars on the market although many of them contain nuts making them a no-no for school lunch boxes and some work places due to strict allergy control.

Try these nut free banana granola bars. They are perfect to freeze and make for a wonderful lunch box idea. Not only are they nut free, but they are also gluten, dairy, refined sugar and soy free AND paleo friendly. Yep, these healthy bars tick all the boxes.

slice

BANANA GRANOLA BARS – NUT FREE

3 cups old fashioned oats

3 large ripe bananas

3/4 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup pepitas/sunflower seeds

1/4 cup goji berries

1/4 cup diced dried apricots

1 Tbs chia seeds

2/3 cup apple sauce

3 Tbs honey or maple syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp sea salt

 

METHOD: Spread oats, coconut and seeds out on a baking tray and lightly spray with olive oil. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly toasted. Meanwhile mash bananas and add all other ingredients. Fold in toasted oat mix and pour into a lined brownie/slice tray. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 45-50 minutes until brown. *varies between ovens so just watch carefully after 35 mins. Cool in tin for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack. Cut into about 18 bars and store in the fridge. Great for freezing too!

 

Happy baking all

K

BANANA BREAD

Published on by Katie morgan4 Comments

Banana bread has seriously got to be one of the best things going around. Perfect for lunch boxes, morning teas or ‘bring a plate’ style picnics. It is so simple to make and without all the added butter and sugar of a regular loaf, this clean healthy recipe means you can toast it, microwave it or spread some peanut butter on it, totally guilt free anytime of the day.

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BANANA BREAD – makes 1 loaf

3 large over ripe bananas mashed

3 eggs

3 Tbs honey or maple syrup

1/4 cup coconut oil melted

1tsp bi-carb soda

1tsp baking powder

3 Tbs dedicated coconut

2 cups almond meal or spelt flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Extra: shredded coconut or banana sliced for decoration

 

METHOD: Combine all wet ingredients in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients and pour into greased or lined loaf tin. Place in preheated 160 degrees oven for 50 – 60 minutes until nice and brown. Keeps in fridge for 1 week.

Remember that it is a ‘bread’ so it is supposed to have a nice dark crust.

photo

HOT TIP – I love to eat my banana bread microwaved and smeared with 1 Tbs peanut butter and 1/2 banana sliced topped with cinnamon. Heaven!

Slice up and freeze for morning tea!

K

COCO-NUTS FOR COCONUTS

Published on by Katie morganLeave a comment

Is it just me or is everything these days coconut based? Coconut milk, coconut water, shredded coconut, desiccated coconut, coconut flour, coconut nectar, coconut oil, coconut chips, coconut cream, coconut butter, coconut syrup, coconut sugar and coconut yoghurt. And there’s good reason for it too. Coconuts are a ‘wonder food’ and have so many health benefits that all humans need in their daily diet. In our western world, the coconut is an ‘health’ food consumed by the health conscious people. However, in other parts of the world people have thrived off coconuts for many generations. And it is no surprise that these people live for many more decades than us.

Straight from the tree as mother nature intended, coconuts have the highest concentration of electrolytes than any other fruit which makes it a superb source of hydration.

The oil from the coconut contains a unique combination of fatty acids with powerful medicinal properties. Previously, coconut oil has had a negative view as it contains saturated fat. (Post on the different types of fats HERE) Coconut oil is one of the richest sources of saturated fat known to man and also 90% of the fatty acids in it are in fact saturated. However, coconut oil doesn’t contain the regular saturated fats which you find in steak and cheese, and they are metabolised differently. Coconut oil is not only great for consuming, but can be used for cosmetic purposes to improve hair and skin appearance or be used as a toothpaste and mouth wash alternative. Fun fact; it is also proven to block 20% of the suns UV rays.

coconut

Because of the coconuts antioxidant properties and high nutrient content, they can be used to:

  • Lower cholesterol
  • Improve digestion (yes please)
  • Maintain youthful skin
  • Stabilise glucose levels
  • Increase your metabolism
  • Fight infections and viruses
  • Kill bacteria
  • Improve your memory
  • Regulate hormones
  • Lose weight
  • Increase thyroid function

Most things I bake contain some form of coconut and they are a great substitute for dairy or wheat ingredients. Although there is potential to go over board and make everything taste like coconut. I personally LOVE the flavour of coconut and don’t usually go a day without some form of coconut intake. However, I do understand that some people don’t like the taste and find it quite disgusting. There are so many ways to spice up your taste buds with some coconut, not to mention the added health benefits too. Coconut muffins, cakes, bliss balls, pancakes, slices, granola, topping for smoothies and for general munching on. Sarah Wilson author of I Quit Sugar, likes to have a teaspoon or two of coconut oil straight from the jar when she has sweet cravings or is a tad too hungry before dinner. Great idea. Spoon for the frying pan and a spoon for my mouth! It will only make you look younger and speed up that metabolism so what do you have to lose? Other than weight of course!

Here are 5 interesting ways to use the wonderful coconut fruit

Bake with coconut flour. See my peanut butter and coconut pancake recipe HERE

photo 5

Rub coconut oil into your hair to improve the moisture content and protect its health and appearance.

CoconutOilHair-3

Use coconut milk or coconut water in your smoothie. Smoothie recipe HERE

smoothie

Add shredded or flaked coconut to your next granola batch. Recipe HERE

granola

Make your own yoghurt with coconut cream. Recipe coming soon on the blog! Stay tuned!

Unfortunately for some, the office life stops me from sitting on the beach and cracking open a fresh coconut – but that doesn’t mean I can’t get the same antioxidant and health benefits from a coconut just minus the sun tan!

K

5 BEST CHRISTMAS SALADS

Published on by Katie morgan4 Comments

When it comes to a Christmas feast you cannot go wrong with a big colourful fresh festive salad. They can be a lot easier to whip up then you imagine – and far less time consuming than roasting a turkey. If you have to ‘bring a plate’ this silly season, then whip up one of these amazing salads.

The following recipes are taken from my favourite 5 famous foodies! All of these women give me inspiration daily and have helped me achieve the healthy life that I live today. Trust me – they know their stuff and they seem to have one thing in common – festive colour, feta and beetroot! Tis the season!!!

 

teresa1. TERESA CUTTER – Beetroot salad with pomegranate and pistachio (RECIPE HERE)

 

 

 

  

greek2. SWEAT AND ORANGES – Classic Greek Salad

A classic mix of diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta, red onion and capsicum tossed with some balsamic vinegar, lemon and oil.

 

 

healthy wife3. HEALTHY FRENCH WIFE – Healthy Christmas Salad (RECIPE HERE)

 

 

 

 

 

kavisha4. KAVISHA JEGA – Massaged Kale and Mango Salad

This winning recipe includes massaged kale (massage with you hands in olive oil to remove that tough kale texture) tossed with diced mango, avocado, feta and walnuts.

 

 

js5. JESSICA SEPEL – Green Beans and Roast Beet Salad (RECIPE HERE)

 

 

 

 

 

K

PLATE UP

Published on by Katie morgan3 Comments

pb banana breadMonday morning!! A new week means new health and fitness goals. A lot of people spend more time worrying about what they ‘shouldn’t’ be eating and rather than focusing on fueling their body with nutritious wholesome super foods. It has taken my a very long time to get my diet right to suit my body, health and fitness goals and overall digestion. Everyone is different – portion sizes, food types, gluten vs no gluten, taste buds and snack frequency so there is no point copying the person next to you as what they eat may not be doing you any benefit. However, let’s not get too precise about what we should and shouldn’t eat and focus on trying to pack as much nutrient rich wonders onto our plate everyday.

Once you build your diet around healthy wholesome foods, you create a strong health platform for your body long term and leave less time for slip ups and binges or poor nutrition. Especially with summer and the bikini season about to hit (even though Canberra lacks in the beach department) now is as better time as ever to get our nutrition right!!

“DON’T EAT LESS – EAT RIGHT” Try adding these nutritional powerhouses to your plate daily!!

1. BERRIES; make friends with berries, and not any particular type – all of them! They are bright, super sweet, low in sugar and have a super high content of antioxidants and vitamins. You can eat them frozen, blended into a smoothie, on your oats, in muffins or with yoghurt. Make sure you have berries today!

2. COFFEE; hallelujah baby!! Not only is coffee exceptionally high in antioxidants there is also evidence that it can speed up our metabolism and promote fat loss and anti aging – sounds good to me.

3. YOGHURT; packed full of prebiotic goodness for overall gut health you cannot go past yoghurt. It can reduce bloating, constipation (yep I said the C word) and digestive imbalance.  For a strong overall immune system and healthy bacteria include yoghurt into your daily diet.

4. PEANUT BUTTER; I’ve said it once and I will say it again – get spooning that peanut butter!! Full of so many health and weight loss benefits, you cannot go wrong with PB. 2 Tablespoons a day will speed up your metabolism, give you energy to work out, keep you full and not to mention taste amazing. 2Tbs Peanut butter and banana bread for morning tea? CHECK!! (pictured)

5. TOMATOES; full of beta-carotene and vitamin c, cooked tomatoes will give you a better daily dose of the nutrient lycopene, another powerful antioxidant with anti-cancer properties. So whose adding a tomato based pasta sauce or yummo lasagna stack into next weeks meal planning?

6. WALNUTS; all nuts have great over all health benefits to our skin, hair, body and metabolism but walnuts have the richest polyunsaturated fat content (this doesnt mean the ‘fattiest’ nut thought) which reduces cholesterol levels and has powerful anti-inflammatory benefits. Grab a large handful to chuck on your salad, oats or in your next baking session. Choc-walnut brownies anyone?

7. OILY FISH; tuna and salmon give the body a massive dose of omega 3 polyunsaturated fat much the same as walnuts. And you can grab a few cans to store in your work draw, handbag or pantry so there is no excuse not to get your daily dose.

8. BROCCOLI; rich source of folate and phytonutrient content well above other greens, broccoli makes for a perfect vege! Soups, dips, pastas, salads, stir fry’s or quiche – its a pretty versatile cute little tree so get plating it up!

9. APPLES; the old saying still goes ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ and ain’t that the truth. Apples are packed full of soluble fiber, vitamin C and can satisfy hunger therefore promoting weight loss. Great for heart health, protecting against metabolic syndrome, dried apples (in particular) can boost exercise endurance, lower cholesterol and aid fat metabolising. Reach for that daily apple – especially teamed up with some PB for a super snack!

10. DARK CHOCOLATE; now this is the one sweet treat that I suggest eating frequently and nutritionists can back that up. If you are going to devour the block – make it dark chocolate with a high cocoa percentage. The higher the cocoa = the higher the antioxidants and more health benefits. Another great example of Kale and the Kettlebell’s health rule – the darker the better!

So NO MORE counting calories, restricting portions, crazy diets or binges. Eat right and eat more of the above foods daily – your body will thank you for it!

K

NN DAY 30 – THE LAST HURRAH

Published on by Katie morganLeave a comment

Today is the final day of Nutritional November!! Well done all of you wonderful fit and fabulous people who have followed my blog daily for the last 30 days. I hope that you enjoyed ‘Nutritional November’ just as much as I have enjoyed writing my little tips, recipes and health and fitness knowledge daily and are feeling fit and confident ready for summer. I must admit I have learnt a lot too and it really did help keep me stay on track and motivated – just in time for December and the silly season so thank you to each and every one of my followers and supporters!!

It has been quite a commitment writing on my blog daily and has proven to me that “if there is something that you really want – you will make time for it.” Ain’t that the truth! So what did you get out of Nutritional November? Did you learn something? Are you feeling healthier or more confident? Did you do something you thought you couldn’t? Did you make one of my healthy recipes? If you answer yes to any of those questions then congratulations and well done!!

As the final hurrah for Nutritional November I ask that you write down 5 things that you really like about yourself. They key to feeling confident and being happy is to feel good about yourself. It is very easy to beat ourselves up over little things but this just damages our self esteem and contributes to poor confidence – NOT the way to a healthy lifestyle.

Ok so I will go first: (no judgment thanks)

1. I like my toes. I get a lot of crap for my short, same length, stubby little fat chipolata sausage toes – but I love them!

2. I like how I crack myself up (hey if you cant laugh at your own jokes how can you expect other people too?)

3. I like how I am comfortable talking to strangers and sparking up random conversation when waiting for my coffee or lunch.

4. I like my ability to motivate people and make them feel good about themselves

5. I like my will power to do anything I put my mind to (except limiting peanut butter)

 

Now it’s your turn! You don’t have to show anyone if you don’t want to just get writing and start raising that self esteem!!

Thanks so much for being a part of my nutritional November and challenging me everyday to be a healthier and fitter version of myself!! I think we all deserve a BIG FAT SCOOP (or two) of peanut butter straight from the jar!!!! And a big thank you to the lovely sisters Jayne and Katie from Sweat and Oranges www.sweatandoranges.com.au who gave me the idea of nutritional November and inspire me daily to be fit and healthy.

K

NN DAY 27 – FERRERO ROCHER SLICE

Published on by Katie morgan3 Comments

Feature recipe on Kale and the Kettlebell today by Rachael Attard @rachael_attard, one of my favourite healthy raw foodie instagram accounts. She produces the most insane recipes and I just had to share this one for those of you who are Nutella or Ferrero Rocher crazy!! It is super easy – and all you need is some basic fresh ingredients and a good ol’ food processor!!

 

FERRERO ROCHER SLICE – raw, vegan, gluten free, grain free, dairy free, sugar free and paleo friendly!!

 

BASE:

1 cup hazelnuts

12 medjool dates

1 Tbs cacao powder

3 Tbs water

 

FILLING:

1 cup cashews soaked overnight

1/2 cup maple syrup

3 Tbs hazelnut butter (the brand Mayvers have an awesome one)

1 Tbs cacao powder

1 Tbs maca powder

3 Tbs coconut oil

pinch of sea salt

handful of hazelnuts

 

METHOD:

Blend base ingredients in a food processor and press into base of pan.

Blend filling ingredients EXCEPT WHOLE HAZELNUTS in  a food processor until thick and smooth. Add the handful of hazelnuts and stir in with a spoon so they stay whole.

Pour over base. Set in freezer for 6 hours!

Slice up and serve  – makes 8 large or 16 small

 

ENJOY!!! and thanks Rachael for the awesome recipe!!

 

K

 

NN DAY 11 – GO BANANAS

Published on by Katie morgan4 Comments

Bananas have always been one of my favourite fruits. If you think bananas are just for monkeys… think again. But hey we are part monkey after all right? And a banana was probably the first solid food that you ever ate as a baby.

HAVE YOU HAD YOUR BANANA TODAY??

Bananas are great for maintaining healthy digestion, lowering blood pressure and curbing appetite. They are dubbed natures energy snack and are great brain food to help keep you alert at work. Because they are rich in potassium, bananas are good for heart and kidney health as well as bone density. They nourish healthy bacteria in the digestive system and help the body to absorb nutrients and resist bacterial infection.

Nutritionally, a banana is a powerful package. The number one quick source of carbohydrates for many athletes or people working out, a banana will give you a sustained and substantial energy boost which is quickly digested and converted to muscle fuel, great for pre or post workout nutrition. They are easy to transport in your handbag (just don’t forget about it), backpack, work draw or car so they make the perfect on the go snack.

How can you look at a banana the same way again after discovering the amazing health benefits and many reasons to add them to your diet DAILY! and why wouldn’t you when they GO WITH ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! Smoothies, ice cream, healthy slices, muffins RECIPE HERE, mug cakes RECIPE HERE and pancakes RECIPE HERE. In fact I don’t think there are many of my clean living recipes that DON’T use a banana.

CONVINCED YET? TRY THIS CREAMY BANANA AVOCADO SMOOTHIE BELOW.

 

banana-avo-smoothie

CREAMY BANANA AVOCADO SMOOTHIE RECIPE – serves 1 (simply double recipe for 2 people)

1 ripe banana (fresh or frozen)

1/2 avocado

1 cup dairy, soy or almond milk

1tsp cinnamon

1Tbs raw honey

1Tbs chia seeds

1Tbs peanut butter

Handful of ice

 

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Enjoy!!

K