2012 August

A simple but fabulous muesli, and other quick breakfast ideas.

August 16, 2012 By Meg With 2 comments

Stuck in a breakfast rut? I must say I know the feeling. As much as I love a good quinoa porridge, I have to say I am getting a little tired of it at the moment. Enter home made muesli. Luscious, hearty and sustaining, it is a super start the the day that will keep you nourished much longer than a packet cereal could ever dream to.
Somehow we have ended up in a place where we don’t have time for cooking grains, so we have cereal, or no time for that, a breakfast bar, and now the addition of up-and-go style squeezy packet pre-mixed situation. The more processed we go, the more dodgy added extras we get, and we end up with a bit of a non-food.

Breakfast is super important! It sets up your entire digestive process for the day, improves concentration, maintains healthy weight, healthy blood sugar, and is just generally yum! If you struggle to eat breakfast in the morning because you are not hungry or feel nauseas, your digestive system may need a bit of TLC from your favourite health practitioner. A glass of warm water with the juice of 1/2 a lemon on waking is a good start! If you struggle to eat breakfast because you are short on time, read on for some suggestions.

Make up a large batch of muesli, ready to go.
If you have to leave for work super early, have a stash at work that you can eat when you get there.
Set your alarm 10 minutes earlier, do it as in investment in yourself!
Put a serve of muesli in a bowl, cover with milk of your choice, and sit in the fridge overnight. In the morning you will have a fab bircher style muesli ready to decorate

…

Continue Reading →

THE LOW DOWN ON COCONUT OIL, and Chocolate Ganache Filled Biscuits – dairy/gluten/grain/egg free and FULL OF DELICIOUS!

August 9, 2012 By Meg With 12 comments

Coconut oil is ace! It is a wonderfully nourishing fat that is antiviral, antifungal and antimicrobial due to its lauric acid content – just like breast milk!
It is metabolised immediately in the gut rather than relying on bile acids from the liver, and so is fabulous for anyone with digestive disorders or difficulty digesting fat. This also means that it produces energy more quickly and stimulates metabolism.
Coconut oil has a wonderfully high smoke point (around 170 degrees), making it fantastic for cooking at high temperatures. It is also a godsend for the dairy intolerant, making a great substitute for butter in almost any recipe.
Coconut oil is a saturated fat, but it is medium-chain triglyceride as opposed to a long-chain triglyceride normally found in animal and plant fats. Medium-chain triglycerides are more easily absorbed, digested and used by our bodies as they contain smaller molecules than those long-chain triglycerides. Less energy and less enzymes to digest = more quickly and easily metabolised – which can be useful if weight loss is a goal also.

We have a need for dairy free goods in our house at times, and I use it in baking, roasting, frying and even in place of butter on toast.

So now that you are pumped to rush out and cook something with coconut oil, I have a completely fabulous recipe for you that I came across last week here.
So easy, so good for any food intolerance or dietary restriction thrown at you, and SO delish!

Here’s what to do:
Ganache
1/4 cup coconut oil (liquefied)
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs raw cacao (or cocoa if you like)
1/4 cup raw honey
1 tbs full fat coconut milk
Mix the first three ingredients together in a small bowl. If your coconut oil is

…

Continue Reading →