Best apples in May
Braeburn – sweet & tart, great in pies, salads and sauces
Pink Lady – sweet & crisp, excellent in pies, salads and sauces
Granny Smith – crisp & tart flavour, perfect for baking, salads, sauces or pies
Jazz – tangy and sweet flavour
Sundowner – a great snacking apple and perfect for baking
Jonagold – perfect apple for cooking
Fuji – sweeter variety which is great in salads, pies and sauces

Apple Baklava with Fig Puree
Recipe by Linda Wells

2 medium size, good shaped apples
½ cup Brazil nuts
½ cup Pecan nuts
2 Tablespoons Agave, Maple Syrup or Honey
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon powder
1/8 teaspoon Clove powder*

Syrup
1 Teaspoon Agave, Maple Syrup or Honey (whatever you used above, use here)
1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

Fig Puree
1 cup Dried Figs, soaked and hard stem removed
1 cup orange juice
blend together and store in fridge

*Clove Powder is made by placing 1 Tablespoon of whole cloves into a rocket blender and blending into a powder.

Slice Apples on a Mandolin for even sized slices – you will need 4 slices per plate, as in picture above. Using a food processor with an ‘s’ blade, process Nuts, Cinnamon and Clove Powders until mixture is like breadcrumbs. Add the sweetener and process to combine.

In a large pyrex glass dish, start to put together your Baklava stacks. A slice of apple, followed by a spoonful of nut mixture, spread out to the rim of the apple and pressed down, topped with a slice of apple etc until you have used the four apple slices.

Mix the syrup ingredients until combined and pour over the apple stacks. Place completed stacks in the fridge until needed, or if it is a cold day, you might like to dehydrate these for an hour before serving to warm and soften the apple, or in a gentle warm oven. Serve with a spoonful of the Fig Puree.

Linda also has a fabulous recipe for a raw apple pie which you must check out, download Linda’s Windfall Apple Pie with Cranberries & Ginger here!

About Linda
Linda Wells is a raw fooder on the NSW mid north coast who teaches raw food classes and provides an Eat Right At Work class to organisations who focus on healthy employees. www.itsuptoyou.com.au

Chandler Walnuts are the most prominent variety of walnut grown in California which is not surprising since these are highly sought after due to their high quality, light and softer kernels. They also tend to not be as bitter as some of the other varieties.

Walnut fact: Californian walnuts account for 99% of the commercial US supply and three-quarters of the world walnut trade.

Walnut health facts

• Walnuts are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).
• Walnuts are a great plant based source of omega-3 fatty acids, being the only nut that contains significant levels of Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)!
• Walnuts are highly nutritious and commonly recommended as part of a wholesome diet, like the Mediterranean diet, due to the walnuts proven benefits in heart health, cancer, aging and metabolic syndrome!
• A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at whether walnuts (providing ALA) and fatty fish (providing EPA and DHA) have similar health improvements with Coronary Heart Disease. The study found that healthy individuals on a diet including walnuts was more powerful in reducing total and LDL (bad) cholesterol when compared to fatty fish.

Did you know? It takes 5-7 years for the Walnut tree to grow from a sapling into an adult tree suitable for harvesting…that is a long wait!

Walnut recipe & serving ideas
Walnuts are one of our most popular and versatile nuts, so we have plenty of delicious recipes to share! Here is a taste…

Carrot Cake with Ricotta Cheese Frosting

Organic Beetroot & Goats Cheese Salad with Walnuts

Storage Tips
The best way to maintain freshness of your walnuts is to keep them cold. Due to the high oil and fatty acid content of walnuts, they tend to go rancid when exposed to hot temperatures. The best place to store your walnuts is in a glass airtight container in the fridge, away from any foods with strong odours like onions or fish! If you’re buying in bulk, then keep them in airtight storage, out of direct sunlight, in a cool dark area of your cupboard.

It’s trendy now to have a slice of chocolate chilli cake, but black turtle beans as well? Why?
Any chance you get to add some black beans to your diet would be a good thing, they are loaded with a rare combination of both protein and fibre. One cup of black beans contains 14 grams of protein – the same amount as a 50 gram serving of a meat like chicken or a fish like salmon? And the 15 grams of fibre from that same one-cup serving is the equivalent of eating 3 cups of broccoli, 4 cups of Brussels sprouts, or 15 plums?

This amazing protein-fibre combination isn’t found in any fruit, vegetables, grains, meats, dairy products, nuts and seeds, or seafood. And this explains why black beans are so incredibly good for your digestive tract, the blood sugar regulatory system and the cardiovascular system.

Plus – there’s more: the skin of black beans contains a high amount of phytonutrients, called anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are responsible for the deep reds, blues, purples, and magenta colours also found in blueberries, grapes and açaí, all of which we know to be powerful antioxidant-rich foods. These compounds decrease the risk of heart disease and cancer. They may also aid in the prevention of macular degeneration by protecting the eyes from free radical damage, increasing circulation and stabilizing collagen structures (which hold tissues together).

Imagine all this power, made into a cookie! Protein, fibre, and powerful antioxidants. I make these cookies small to have on hand in the fridge to help me through chocolate cravings when they arise. They are not sweet and I like to think of them as an “adult” cookie.

Ingredients (18 small cookies)
1 ½ cups black turtle beans
to prepare, place in a pot of cold water, bring to the boil and turn off. Let sit for 30 minutes, drain and replace water, boil gently for about 20 minutes, drain and cool
2 Tbsp. organic coconut oil
1/3 cup organic coconut sugar
1/3 cup organic cocoa powder
I tried using cacao powder, but it makes them too bitter as there isn’t much sweetener in this recipe
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/3 cup maple syrup (or honey, agave or carob syrup)
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate (70% or higher) broken into small pieces
1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries (or dry some sour cherries)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 1800C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Mix chia seeds, maple syrup, and vanilla in a bowl and set aside for 15 minutes to form a gel.
3. Place drained and well-rinsed beans, coconut oil, coconut palm sugar, cocoa, salt and cayenne in a food processor and blend until well combined. Add maple syrup and chia mixture and pulse to incorporate. The batter should hold together. Remove blade from the food processor and add chocolate pieces and cranberries. Fold to incorporate.
4. Spoon cookie batter onto lined baking sheet. Using the back of the spoon, flatten top of cookies slightly, as they will not spread when baking.
Bake for 15 minutes until the edges are browning. Cool and eat. Store in the fridge.

Note: these cookies are not very sweet, they are rich and satisfying by only eating one at a time…

About Linda
Linda Wells is a raw fooder on the NSW mid north coast who teaches raw food classes and provides an Eat Right At Work class to organisations who focus on healthy employees. www.itsuptoyou.com.au

Talking about the kitchen, the aboutlife cafe specialises in quality, healthy and delicious foods, and produces a variety of delicious menus to those with food sensitivities and accommodates special dietary needs. “At aboutlife our core values are people and service and we set high standards for ourselves everyday as individuals and in our teams so that we can give you the best possible experience” says Lee from aboutlife.
“We are a friendly based store, where each staff member has a passion for food, health, wellbeing and quality of life. Our friendly crew is all equally important in building what has become one of Sydney’s finest food stores and café’s.”

The Honest to Goodness organic dried bananas, macadamias, pecans, linseeds, dried pineapples and honey are used to make the aboutlife branded muesli, yummo! The kitchen also uses a range of organic goodies in bulk in the kitchen including organic agave and tamari sauce!

Our favourite things about…aboutlife!
Each store has a full sized café where you can sit and sip on an organic soy chai latte or a fair trade coffee made by our highly skilled baristas. Whether you’re looking for a yummy light snack or a full meal the menu will have something to delight you. Visit the aboutlife cafe. In both stores you’ll find a naturopathic dispensary with a fully qualified naturopath on hand to help you with any of the products or to mix you up a herbal remedy if you need one.

Catering comes naturally
aboutlife is a gold license caterer which can cater for anything, from large functions to small gatherings in Sydney. Using only the freshest of ingredients, sourced from local farms wherever possible and grown without the use of chemicals, pesticides, hormones or artificial processes of any kind. You can select from platters or put together a selection that meets your needs. aboutlife catering.

One of the most popular recipes from the aboutlife café is the Coconut Veggie Korma!
Ingredients:
60mls coconut oil
125g onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 1/2cm piece of ginger
3 cardamom pods, split
1 tablespoon curry paste
1 tablespoon tomato purée
400g can chopped tomatoes
75g red lentils
350g tofu, cubed
500g seasonal vegetables, chopped into bite size
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste
600ml vegetable stock
150ml coconut milk
2 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
Rice to serve

Method:
Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan.
Fry onion, garlic, ginger and cardamom pods for 5 min.
Add curry paste, tomato purée, tomatoes and lentils. Cook for further 10min.
Stir- fry tofu in separate pan for 5 min. Add the vegetables and spices, season and cook for 10 min. Stir in tomato and add lentil mixture. Add stock, cover and simmer for 20 min or until lentils are almost cooked stirring occasionally. Stir in the coconut milk and coriander reserving little for garnish. Cook uncovered for a further 10 min.
Garnish with coriander and serve with brown rice.

For more information visit www.aboutlife.com.au

General Fermenting & Culturing Guidelines…

• Cultures do not like metals
  Any reactive metals will permantly damage cultures. Stainless steel and plastic are OK, but wood, glass and ceramics are ideal!
• Clean hands & utensils
  Thoroughly clean your utensils so you remove any strains that may compete with your culture, to maximise its chance of living!
• Cultures need clean air
  Avoid any pollutants or toxins which may affect the health & flavour of your culture!
• Back-up your culture
  Keep any leftover stock in case your main organism is damaged. You can always top up your culture with your back-up stock!
• Try dehydrating
  Cultures can be dehydrated at low temperatures (>35 degrees), and stored indefinitely.

About Fermented and Cultured Foods…

Kombucha
An ancient healing tonic, consumed in small amounts, that can be adapted to suit any palate. Try adding fruit & spices! Kombucha is the perfect beginners culture; very handy and low maintenance. Research has shown that Kombucha has antimicrobial activity, enhances sleep and pain relief, has potent antioxidant activities and is recommended for treating digestive, cardiovascular, joint/tissue, nervous, infective, hormonal and skin conditions.

Kombucha ideas…
- Tea Blends: try teas like English Breakfast, Ceylon, Darjeeling, Oolong and regular Green tea. Avoid any teas with oils like Earl Grey or fruit flavoured teas. It’s always best to choose organic teas!
- Spiced Apple
- Fruit: add the juice of 1 lemon and some dried fruit to your kombucha.

Kefir
This is an easy to maintain, highly digestible and extremely nutritious alternative to regular milk products! Most yoghurts and supplements contain around 10 million ‘friendly bacteria’ per serve/capsule. Kefir has a live organism count of around 1 billion per mL, so 100mLs gives you 100 billion healthy little organisms for your gut, wow!! The diversity of the bacteria in kefir is also far supreme to those found in pre-made products. Kefir’s strong cultures re-populate the digestive tract by forming stable colonies.

Georgia’s workshop includes recipes and tips for creating a range of fermented & cultured foods including; Kombucha, Kefir, Tibicos, Coconut Yoghurt, Almond Milk Yoghurt and Basic Sauerkraut! Here is another special recipe which Georgia has shared from her Stirring Change workshops…

Thai Curry Pickled Carrot Sticks (1L)
©Stirring Change
Ingredients
½ kilo of carrots, peeled and chopped into sticks
2 cloves garlic, sliced
½ inch ginger, peeled and sliced
10cm lemongrass stalk, outer leaves peeled, sliced longitudinally
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 tsp coriander seeds (best if dry-roasted until fragrant, then cooled)
1/2 a fresh deseeded jalapeno pepper (or 1/2 tsp chilli flakes – both optional)
1/2 packet of body ecology starter culture
1.5 tsp salt (3 tsp salt if you’re not using the starter)
1 cabbage leaf
Equipment
1L ball, mason or fowlers vacola jar

Method
In a clean (sterilised) jar, gently swish the salt and starter in a little water until it is mostly dissolved, then pack all the other ingredients tightly into the jar.
Fill with extra water so that it is 2 inches from the top. Fold the cabbage leaf and press it into the top of the jar to keep the carrots under the brine. Screw the lid on tightly and leave on the kitchen bench – out of harm’s way.
With starter: The carrots should be ready in 3-7 days
With salt only: The carrots should be ready in roughly 1.5-2 weeks
There are no rules with timing – simply taste them every few days and transfer to the fridge when you’re happy with the flavour. They will continue to improve with time in the fridge.

If you are lacking some time and energy to get into the kitchen, it happens to us all! Then here are Georgia’s top picks for fermented & cultured food products which you can purchase…

• Miso, natto, tempeh
• Apple cider vinegar (Bragg’s)
• Olives (Loving Earth)
• Cultured butter
• Kefir, yoghurt
• Grass-fed raw cheese (Fromart)
• Coconut water kefir (Cocobiotic – Body Ecology)
• Sauerkraut
• Kimchi
• Fermented vegies (Kitsa’s Kitchen)
• Fermented fish and butter oils (Green Pastures)
  
  Georgia from Stirring Change runs regular workshops and classes. Find out when her next cultured workshop is.. details here!
  
  

What are Lacto-fermented and cultured foods?
Fermentation in food is basically the conversion of sugars and other carbohydrates, used to preserve food, enrich the diet, eliminate antinutrients and reduce cooking times. Preservation techniques such as microorganisms (bacteria like lactobacillus), vinegars and other acids like lemon are used to produce foods such as yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut or kimchi.

Origins
Fermentation of foods is the oldest food preservation method after drying, dating back to 8000 years ago, and has strong nutritional and therapeutic value!
Medicinal – Ancient physicians of the Middle East prescribed soured milks for curing digestive and liver disorders and for stimulation of the appetite.
Food Preservation – Soured milks and yoghurt were used for preservation of meat against spoilage during the summer.
Cosmetic – Early writers of the Middle East mention the use of soured milks as cosmetics.

Traditional diets with fermented foods
In the first half of the workshop, Georgia took us through the amazing research of nutritional medicine pioneers like Dr. Weston Price, George Ohsawa, Dr Natasha Campbell-Mcbride and Donna Gates, who through their own research and studies have proven the role of traditional cultured foods in preventing health problems and promoting general wellbeing.

Dr. Price’s research of isolated nonindustrialized peoples in the 1930′s, demonstrated that traditional diets contribute to achieving perfect physical form and perfect health, generation after generation. In each village that he visited, although their diets varied slightly, all of them consumed unprocessed, nutrient-dense whole foods, including animal fats and fermented foods. Read more on The Weston A Price Foundation…

Charactertistics of Traditional Diets

• No processed or denatured foods
• Animal foods in every diet – whole animal is consumed (except lean meats).
• High content of enzymes / good bacteria from fermented vegies, dairy, meat, beverages.
• Seeds, grains, legumes and nuts were soaked, sprouted, fermented or naturally leavened.

Why soak, sprout, ferment & naturally leaven?

• Deactivates ENZYME INHIBITORS (which block digestion)
• Neutralise PHYTIC ACID (which block mineral absorption)
• Neutralise TANNINS AND LECTINS (irritants)
• Pre-digest COMPLEX STARCHES AND SUGARS (hard to digest)
• Begins breakdown of GLUTEN (hard to digest/can be toxic)
• Begins breakdown of CELLULOSE (impossible to digest)

Health benefits associated with cultured foods
Cultured foods provide all the benefits associated with improved gut flora – the list is endless!

• Weight management
• Dramatically improve digestion and absorption of vital nutrients
• Lower cholesterol and improve blood lipid profile
• Optimise blood pressure
• Skin health – increased elasticity / collagen production
• Anti-aging
• Improve mood, mental function and emotional stability
• Dramatically improve all aspects of immune function
• Improve the colonisation of intestinal, respiratory and urogenital tracts
• Increase energy and reduce stress

Cultured foods: Active constituents

• Vitamin K2 Crucial for cardiovascular and bone health
• Vitamin C Essential for immune health, a powerful antioxidant
• Lactic Acid (and numerous others) Optimises colon pH by increasing acidity – inhibiting pathogenic bacteria and yeasts like Candida. Actively breakdown pesticides, harmful chemicals and toxins.
• B vitamins Crucial for nervous system, mental function, digestion, blood health.
• Essential amino acids Powerful antioxidants, essential for a huge range of important functions in every area of the body.
• Plus: Any nutrient already contained the original food is made hundreds of times more bioavailable

Now you know the basics, stay tuned for part 2 of this blog post, where Georgia explains how to turn your food into medicine with fermented food and recipe ideas! If you can’t wait until then…
Georgia from Stirring Change runs regular workshops and classes. Her next cultured veg workshop is coming up on Saturday 3rd of March, details here!

With half of our office braving the February cleanse, I thought I’d share some of our favourite ways to naturally cleanse and reinvigorate your body, to take on 2012 with a healthier you!

Beetroot
The vibrant red colour of beetroot juice is so rich it could almost be mistaken for blood. Nature’s way of speaking to us perhaps… as beetroot is known to purify blood and support healthy circulation through the heart, liver and large intestine, clever! Other benefits our beet offers…alleviates constipating, aids and cleanses the liver, is anti-inflammatory and beneficial for anaemia. Try adding beetroot to your freshly squeezed juices or have a go at this delicious and nourishing Raw Beetroot & Arame Salad recipe!

Chia Seeds
These tiny little seeds are packed full of nutritional power, being one of the richest sources of omega-3 essential fatty acids. This powerful superfood is also a great source of dietary fibre which is great at pulling those nasties out from our bodies, leaving us feeling cleansed!

Simply sprinkle chia over your muesli, add to your smoothie or enjoy a ‘Chia Fresca’… add 1tsp chia to a tall glass of water, keep stirring every few minutes and enjoy, it’s refreshing and will keep you full between meals!
See our chia seed serving suggestions and recipes here!

Dandelion
Some of you may have met Dandelion in your garden as a weed, but this plant is one of nature’s best tonics for our spleen, stomach, kidneys and liver. It stimulates liver function, reduces inflammation, bloating and improves digestion! The root of the plant also contains inulin which lowers blood sugar levels. Dandelion root can be consumed as a tea (loose or tea bags), served black or with a touch or milk and honey. Replace your morning caffeine hit with this bitter tonic and you will notice the difference!

Join the Brassica Family
This family of vegetables is one of the most important for detoxifying and regeneration. Known for being rich in phytonutrients which detoxify carcinogens and protect against nasties! Brassica vegetables include; cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and kale.

Green is good!
Our green leafy vegetables are packed full of essential nutrients, particularly Vitamins A, C, K and Calcium…as well as providing a good dose of fibre. Add a handful of green leafy’s like spinach, rocket, broccoli or kale to every meal and you will feel more energised and healthier from the inside out! Kick-start your day with this Green smoothie recipe from the Glug of Goodness blogspot…

Green Smoothie
Ingredients:

• 4 kale stalks
• 6 sprigs of parsley (leaves and stems)
• 3 sprigs mint
• a knob ginger
• 1 lemon
• half a frozen banana
• 1 kiwi
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1 tbsp of pepitas & sunflower seeds
• 1 cup of water

What to do:
Chuck everything in a blender and mix until smooth. If it’s too thick you might want to add more water.
Recipe by Kiara from Glug of Goodness.

Lemon
This tangy citrus fruit is an old favourite of nutritionists and naturopaths, due to its antiseptic and antimicrobial properties which will kill bacteria and cleanse your body! Lemons support a healthy liver, promote healthy weight loss, and are packed full of Vitamin C, a known immune booster and detoxifier.

Squeeze a quarter to half a lemon in warm water in the morning and drink on waking, followed by 1-2 glasses of filtered water. Lemon aids digestion by stimulating the gall bladder to release bile which supports liver function and the breakdown of fats. Lemon also stimulates saliva production and is a great way to awaken your body’s metabolism.

Amanda Powell is an accredited Nutritional therapist and the Honest to Goodness in-house Nutritionist! Now available for private consults!

Post your questions or comments below, and Amanda will happily respond!

Results from this survey reveal that in 2007-08, 61.4% of the Australian population were either overweight or obese. For children and adolescents, the survey results indicate that 24.9% of children aged 5 – 17 years are overweight or obese. 25.8% of boys and 24.0% of girls are either overweight or obese.

If weight gain continues down this path, by the year 2020, 80% of all Australian adults and 1/3 of all Australian children will be overweight or obese.

As adults we get to make our own decisions about what we choose to fuel our bodies with. But as adults, it is also our responsibility to make these decisions for our children.

The 2012 school year is starting again next week, or may have already started for some! So what will you pack in your kids lunch box to make sure they don’t become another statistic?

The recently updated Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (NHMRC) is a great place to start!
Recommended serves of Fruit & Vegetables for children:
Ages 4 – 8: 1 1/2 Fruit/4 1/2 Vegetables per day
Ages 9-11: 2 Fruit / 5 Vegetables per day
Ages 12-18: 2 Fruit / 5-6 Vegetables per day

Goodness Tip. Raw vegetable sticks with hummus are a great way to increase your kids veggie count!

Recommended amount of water:
Ages 4 – 8: 1-1.2L (5 glasses)
Ages 9-13: 1.4-1.6 (5-6 glasses)
Ages 14+: 1.6 – 2L (6-8 glasses)

Recommended serves of cereals/grains for children:
Ages 4 – 8: 4 per day
Ages 9-11: 4 – 5 per day
Ages 12-18: 5 – 7 per day

Recommended intake of Lean Meat, Poultry, Fish, Eggs,Nuts & Legumes:
Ages 4 – 8: 1 1/2 per day
Ages 9-11: 2 1/2 per day
Ages 12-18: 2 1/2 per day

Goodness Tip. Raw nut & trail mixes make a great snack on the run!

Recommended serves of dairy foods for children:
Ages 4 – 8: 1 – 2 per day
Ages 9-11: 2 1/2 per day
Ages 12-18: 3 1/2 per day

Why is packing a nutritious lunchbox so important for your child?
Whilst a child is at school they will consume around a third of their daily nutritional requirements through eating recess and lunch. Therefore it is important that the lunchbox is well planned and contains a variety of healthy and yummy choices to ensure your child consumes enough nutrients to help them concentrate, learn and play.

For some healthy lunchbox ideas, check out Karen Ward’s blog…
Creating a Nutritious Lunchbox…

What are your tips for creating a healthy & delicious lunchbox?!

The call comes as the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) launches Australia’s Healthy Weight Week (AHWW) this Sunday. The week aims to kick-start a new year of making better food choices and becoming more active in order to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Events are held around the country to promote the importance of a healthy weight.

Young women aged 18-25 are the main target for this year’s AHWW campaign. Rates of weight gain in this group are higher than other Australians, and this is affecting fertility and long-term health.

The latest statistics show one in five 18-24 year old women are overweight and 15% are obese. It’s time to embrace a healthier lifestyle to look and feel better, and to avoid serious health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, later in life.

So, why not get involved and turn over a new leaf by taking part in the Australia’s Healthy Weight Week campaign (22-29 January 2012) and begin by making one small change at a time.

While it may seem ‘boring’, the best diet really is one that involves a long-term approach to eating better. A diet has a start and end date, setting you up for failure in the long term. Making small changes, one step at a time, will add up and help shift those excess kilos. Finding a long term solution that works for you and sticking to it is the best option. For those Australians carrying too much weight, dropping 5-10% in body weight would make a huge difference.

Get on-board – Eat better, feel better and move more!
Start your 10 week challenge today by downloading a copy of the 10 week challenge here

To help you get the ball rolling come and join us…
Walk 4 Your Weight
Where:        Rodd Park (off Henley Marine Dr, Rodd Point)
When:         Sunday 29^th January, 11am
What:          Bay walk, followed by a well-deserved lunch.

There will be a healthy meal available as well as information to help maintain a healthy lifestyle. Dietitians also available for a chat!
RSVP: For catering purposes please RSVP to lauren_mcclean@hotmail.com

To find more information on Australia’s Healthy Weight Week visit: www.healthyweightweek.com.au

Lauren McClean
(Modified from www.daa.asn.au)

Welcome 2012 – let’s talk about digestion!
With the silly (stupid, crazy, unthinkable) season over, now is the time to rescue our body’s digestive system and get things back on track. I’ve been thinking of putting a ‘cheese detector’ on my front door, that way if any one comes with more triple brie or d’Affinois I can simply pretend to not be home! I wouldn’t normally even eat the crackers let alone the cheese, but this season saw me eat ridiculous things – even pavlova – which was sublime by the way, made from real eggs and loads of love (that’s what I told myself anyway).

Seriously, let’s give our digestive systems a present in the form of Chia seed porridge. If you haven’t made it before it can seem a bit daunting, but once you get the hang of it – it’s easy and can be made in a larger quantity and kept in the fridge for 3-4 days.

The night before soak the following in water (leave on the bench with a plate to cover).
Bowl One – Medium:
2 cups of organic or insecticide-free almonds – cover with water.

Bowl Two – Small:
1 cup of organic chia seeds – cover with water (forms a gel)

Bowl Three – Large:
2 cups of rolled oats
¾ cup of raisins
¾ cup of pepitas
¾ cup of sunflower seeds
4 organic medjool dates – seeds removed
½ cup of cranberries (optional)

In the morning make almond milk by draining and rinsing almonds. Put almonds (probably ¾ cup at a time) in a blender with water, process into a milky liquid. Empty into a jug. Repeat until you have used all the almonds. Strain through a nut milk bag and set aside. Keep the pulp for chocolate or meatloaf recipes.

Add chia seed gel to blender. Drain and rinse the oat mixture and add a little (probably a third) to the blender with chia, add some almond milk, a dash of cinnamon, a dash of ginger powder and a small squeeze of lemon juice. Blend until smooth. You may need to do this in stages depending on the size of your blender. Reserve some of the oat/seed mixture unblended so that it adds colour and texture to the overall mixture.

Once all stages have been completed, stir in reserved oat/seed mixture and keep porridge in a lidded Tupperware in the fridge. Keep leftover almond milk in a jar in the fridge to serve with porridge each morning.

To serve – spoon chia seed porridge into bowls, top with almond milk and perhaps some fresh blueberries, bananas, strawberries etc.
Download Chia Seed Porridge with Almond Milk recipe here!

The gelatinous nature of the chia seed will assist in moving mass through the digestive system easily, plus it’s delicious!

For more on chia…Chia seed recipe ideas & nutrition!

Linda Wells
Linda Wells is a raw fooder on the NSW mid north coast who teaches raw food classes and provides an Eat Right At Work class to organisations who focus on healthy employees. www.itsuptoyou.com.au