Hummus from home.

We’ve received a swag of rad engagement presents over the last couple of months. One if particular being a snazzy little food processor! My latest culinary creation is homemade hummus! Those plastic tubs of hummus in the supermarket just don’t compare to the flavour, texture, smell and how filling the real stuff is!

I’m always trying to discover ways to become more self sufficient to improve my health and reduce the amount of packaging I use. Eg growing my own herbs, mixing up our own muesli, buying toilet paper in paper packaging rather than plastic so it can be popped in the recycle bin.

So I’ve stopped buying crackers and started using mushies, snowpeas, zucchini, cucumber, red capsicum, carrots as my dippers! Also by putting the dip into little glass containers you’re cutting down on the foil and plastic packaging of the commercial stuff.

Here’s what to do:

1 x 400g tin of organic chickpeas, rinsed and drained (packed with protein)
½ tsp pink Himalayan salt (rich in minerals)
1 garlic cloves (natural antibiotic)
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice (vitamin C)
2 Tbs tahini (high in calcium)
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil (essential fatty acids)

Whiz everything in a food processor then store in an airtight container in the fridge for about 5 days.

There are heaps of variations you can make like pumpkin hummus, spiced beetroot, mint and pea, etc. So get creative!

What new dishes have you made lately? How can you cut down on packaging around your house to reduce your carbon impact? xx

Oh yeah and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Is that a zucchini in your pocket?

I am quite notorious in my house for sneaking in “surprise” ingredients into mine and my future husband’s food. I’ll often present him with an odd coloured smoothie, funny shaped muffin or an exotic new dish and enthusiastically announce “Guess what’s in it!”

He’s had turkey meatballs instead of beef, wombok cabbage omlettes and random wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, raw, vegan cheesecake made with silken tofu (which he couldn’t even tell the difference)!

So this Christmas we are in charge of dessert and I remember having a sensationally decadent chocolate cake in North Fitzroy one night and wanted to try and recreate it... Oh yeah and it had ZUCCHINI in it!!

Here is the recipe we’re using from naturopath Petrea King’s cookbook Food for Life:

Ingredients
· 300g dark Lindt chocolate. Chopped
· 200g unsalted butter
· 5 eggs, separated
· 1 cup raw or brown sugar
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 2 cups hazelnuts, whizzed in a food processor until fine
· 1 cup zucchini, grated
· 1 cup wholemeal flour
· 1 teaspoon baking powder
· Chopped hazelnuts, grated chocolate to serve

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC.

2. Brush a 22cm round cake tin with melted butter or coconut oil. Line the base with baking paper.

3. Gently melt the chocolate and butter in a saucepan stirring until smooth.

4. Using electric beaters, whisk the egg whites until stiff.

5. Place the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla in a medium-size bowl and using the electric beaters (no need to wash from whisking the eggs), whisk until creamy.

6. Fold the hazelnuts and zucchini through the chocolate mixture until well combined.

7. Fold in the flour and baking powder, then using a metal spoon, fold through the stiffened egg whites and pour into the prepared cake tin.

8. Bake for 1¼ hours or until skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.

9. Cool in the tin for 20 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

10.Decorate with chopped hazelnuts and grated chocolate.

Merry Christmas boys and girls xx

Act local.

I wandered through the farmers markets in town today and filled my bag with spelt bread from Bellingen (20 mins south of Coffs), bananas from Woolgoolga (20 mins north) and then bought a piece of gluten-free zucchini slice from a little old lady who was doing a roaring trade with all her scrumptious looking homemade treats. I went over to a local business and they ground up some fresh peanut butter for me, then bought the softest bamboo top from a lovely little shop that sells Australian owned and made goods. Afterwards I went into four different op shops and bought a stack of empty jars to put tea light candles in.

Here are Essential Health’s top 10 ways to support your local community:

Visit your local farmers market
Grow your own herbs, fruit and veg and make a compost heap
Pass on old clothes, sheets and blankets to an op-shop
Hand down old toys and out grown clothes to your friends who have kids
Donate money to your Surf Life Saving Club
Adopt new pets from the RSPCA rather than the pet shop
Buy your coffee at a little café rather than a big chain
Volunteer at the RSPCA, a retirement home or soup kitchen
Get crafty and make cards, toys and decorations this Christmas
SUPPORT INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES RATHER THAN FRANCHISES!!!

What things do you do to support the town and country that you live in?

Mind chatter.

Who should I thank in my wedding speech?
Where should I take the girls for our staff Christmas party?
What do I feel like for lunch today?
What clients am I seeing this week?
Should I get those new Lorna Jane tights?
Maybe I’ll book another reflexology treatment this week?

Many thoughts floated through my head this morning as I strolled over the headland listening to my iPod. Then all of a sudden I saw something purple out of the corner of my eye. I meandered off the track, bent down and to my delight I saw my first Fringed Violet flower.

I’d only seen photos in my Australian Bush Flower Essences book and had always secretly hoped to find one. The flowers are only about the size of a five cent piece and the delicate petals are as soft as a feather.

I was mesmerised for a minute or two then sat down on the grass on the edge of the headland and drank in all the beauty of the crashing waves, playful families, the warm sun on my skin and the salty air. This my dear friends, is called being MINDFUL.

When you focus on the present moment that you are currently in, all mind chatter ceases and you can be truly free from your mind.

Don't miss out on all the natural beauty that is right in front of you because your mind is too busy running amuck. Where are you right now? What can you see/feel/hear/taste/smell? Give it a try. You will feel liberated.

The Thank-God-I-Made-It-Through-November Smoothie.

Sometimes we get so caught up in moving from one obstacle/job/day to the next that we stop to forget to acknowledge our achievements. It could be handing in your final uni assessment or cleaning the whole house from top to bottom. The moral of the story is to take a moment to celebrate YOU!

November was a bloody big month for me. I’ve been working extra hours in the shop, seeing an influx of new clients in the clinic, planning our ‘Big Day’, preparing a car to be sold, plus pilates, Momentum group fitness classes and everything else life had in store! With thanks to my now shrivelled up adrenal glands, I made it to December!

Needless to say, my smoothie today is the Thank God I Made It Through November Smoothie! Dedicated to my adrenals.

Whiz up in a blender:

300ml coconut water
1 heaped tsp of spirulina powder (high in chlorophyll which alkalises the blood)
1 tsp of BioCeuticals Silica liquid (essential for lovely skin and tastes like lemonade icy poles! $24.95 for 500ml)
1 Tbsp chia seeds (for fibre)
½ a banana
A handful of watermelon
A handful of frozen blackberries
A sprig of fresh mint out of the garden

Add a little cocktail umbrella because you deserve it!

Now bring on December!! xx

Book worm.

Sup nerds. Out of all my orders that I place, I get the most excited when a delivery from Brumby Books arrives at our door! Four in particular are pretty special.

Firstly there's the Louise L Hay 'I Can Do It' 2012 desk calendar. Each day that you peel off has a new affirmation ready and waiting to inspire you. On my bday next year on Feb 2nd (yay for Aquarians!) the affirmation says "I really enjoy the present. Every moment today is special, and I choose to celebrate it". And celebrate I shall ;)

I'm a bit of a frother for Janella Purcell. She's a super qualified lady who's books don't seem to have any ego about them. The book is alphabeticalised by foods and disease states so you can see what foods to avoid, increase and herbal medicines to take too. How convenient...

Do your kiddies have eczema, anxiety, catch every cold that goes around, poor concentration, chronically snotty, bad sleep patterns or restlessness? Don't just blame it on the age they're at. Sue Dengate is the goddess of kids health and I wish this book belonged on EVERY parents bedside table. It talks about the link between childrens behaviour and the foods they eat. The foods aren't just red cordial and Twisties, it's the naughty things that are "hidden" in rice crackers, vegemite, cheese, juice, etc. It's an eye opener to say the least.

Spilt hair dye on your bathroom bench top? Deoderant stains on your red leather jacket? Did your cat drink green food colouring and then peed on your oatmeal-coloured sisal carpet? (These are all REAL questions in the book). Shannon Lush and Jennifer Fleming will be at your rescue! And just for the record, spiders hate lemon oil, mozzies are not fans of lavender oil and peppermint oil deters ants!

So come in and got your nose in our books!!

Tree hugger.

I have a deep fetish for biophilia. Sounds creepy right? Well it’s not, you sick puppies.

Biophillia is a term that refers to the healing power we experience from nature. This is due to our innate connection to the outside world. There have been countless studies conducted to reveal the rapid improvement of hospital patients who have a view of a garden or who are able to sit outside in the sun compared to those who did not get the privilege.

My Mr and I went to Bunnings on the weekend and came home with a big bag of organic potting mix as well as coriander, cherry toms, mint and sweet basil seedlings.

After a long day of fluorescent lighting, air-con, a constantly ringing phone and racking my brain with correct products for the appropriate conditions, I felt instantly revitalised and grounded after getting some dirt under my fingernails.

So try to sit in a park on your lunchbreak rather than checking your emails, feel the sand between your toes after work and enjoy a leisurely walk over a headland rather than on the treadmill. You’ll feel better for it.