My Wholefood Romance

A Breakfast for the Overwhelmed and Adrenally Fatigued – Overnight Oats

July 9, 2013 By Meg With 13 comments

overnightoatsfence So, I’ve had a bit on lately. It’s one of those situations where lots of opportunities come your way, and so you say “yes” to everything, and it’s all super fun and exciting and challenging….and exhausting! I am not complaining at all, but I am conscious enough to recognise that I need to put a few steps in place to make sure my brain doesn’t explode out of my skull which I was a bit worried about earlier today…

So, I thought I would write a quick post on adrenal fatigue – but I won’t go into great detail as I know we’ve all got smoothies to make, ha!

Our adrenals are lovely, small, walnut sized glands that hang out above our kidneys. They produce steroid hormones and help control our reaction to stress. The basic deal is that if we are stressed, a hormone called cortisol increases to help us to deal with it, and then returns to a baseline level. When cortisol rises, another hormone called aldosterone drops in order to lower our blood pressure slightly during this stressful time to keep us under control. Great! Our bodies can’t tell the difference between a lion attack, or the fact that you lost your car keys, and will respond physiologically the same way to different stressors. The problem is, this means that instead of short term lion attacks, we are responding this way long term to chronic modern day stressors like work, money, and figs only being in season for a short time… When we are chronically stressed, our adrenals are continually pumping out cortisol to cope – but there is only so far they can go. If our adrenals start to get tired, adrenalin comes to the party to pick up the slack and keep us going, but …

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Cauliflower ‘Coucous’ – a cleansing, grain-free delight.

cauliflower

Aaah cauliflower. Growing up I would argue with my sister that is was pointless and beige, and so began the broccoli vs cauliflower saga. Well I am happy to eat my words! As the years went by, I have discovered not only the amazing nutritional benefits, but flavour profiles that cauliflower can provide. If you haven’t tried roasted cauliflower, you really have to – right now – you won’t regret it. Chop it up, drizzle with a little oil, salt and maybe some turmeric, paprika or your favourite spice, and roast until some nice golden edges appear. It is SUCH a treat. Really!

But back to nutritional benefits. Vitamin C, loads. Vitamin K, yep. Folate, tick. B vitamins, got it. Plus sprinklings of choline, potassium, manganese and magnesium. Who knew?! Vitamin C in particular we tend to associate with brightly coloured veggies, cauliflower – you dark horse! And not stopping there, how about a big whack of sulfur. Sulfur is involved in stacks of important processes in the body, but my favourite is its involvement in the making of glutathione – one of our MAJOR antioxidants. Glutathione is a free radical annihilating, completely awesome antioxidant that also plays a huge role in helping the liver to process toxins. I could go on, but the main point – more cauliflower = more glutathione = excellent! Oh and it’s also anti carcinogenic.

So, let’s get cauliflower-ing! Boiling – just don’t go there. Aside from losing half the nutrients, you will end up with a soggy mess that our guinea pigs wouldn’t even eat. Quick cooking is the go. Roasting, grilling, steaming, and sautéing.

But today’s adventure was cauliflower couscous. Pretty much the same as cauliflower rice, but it actually does taste like couscous. And for those with wheat and gluten sensitivity, or …

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Chia Puddings!

June 10, 2013 By Meg With 8 comments

Chia Pudding

Chia puddings are everywhere at the moment, and for good reason too! They are quick, easy and a great way to incorporate the goodness of chia into your diet. Chia seeds are packed with calcium, magnesium, antioxidants, protein, fibre, and omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. You can easily add them to almost anything (smoothies, desserts, salads, etc) but be warned as they do have the ability to absorb a lot of moisture. This means that if you add some to your green smoothie, drink it fairly promptly or you will need to attack it with a spoon! In this way though, it is particularly useful as an egg replacement in baking for vegans or those with allergies.

Above is one of my favourite chia puddings, styled to the max by the amazing Nancy Chalmers for my contribution to her eBook over at Wolf and Willow Blog. And below is my attempt at photography…
layeredchiapudding

Either way, it’s a delicious outcome! And one of the best things about making chia puddings is that you can add anything you like. If you don’t want to layer the pudding, just mix everything together and enjoy as a chaotic colourful pudding!

Here’s how to make this baby.

Layered Chia Pudding

Serves 1
3 tbs chia seeds
1 cup coconut milk, or almond milk / milk of your choice
½ tsp acai or macqui powder*
A handful of almonds
½ ripe banana, sliced
2 tbs pepitas
2 tbs buckwheat
A handful of coconut flakes
1 tbs bee pollen (optional)
2 tbs berries (optional)

Place the chia seeds and milk in a jar and soak for 5-10 minutes. At this point, give the mix a good stir to further combine. Pop the lid on and leave for at least another 20 minutes, or overnight …

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A Delicious Dairy Free Blueberry ‘Cheesecake’

June 4, 2013 By Meg With 2 comments

blueberrycheesecakeclose

Fun cooking for me is like therapy. When I say fun cooking, I mean playing around with recipes and creating new things. I love it, I prioritise it, but sometimes when you are caught up in the whirl wind of busy life it’s difficult to make time for it. It is most likely someone else’s hell, but hey, we celebrate our differences. This last week I have been withholding any ‘fun / experimental’ cooking until I met a couple of deadlines in other projects. I was so happy with my achievements that I had to make cake. I wanted to try a dairy free cheesecake. I am not normally a huge fan of these, and I think it’s because mostly they are made completely raw, and so have quite a sweet base of dates and nuts of some combination. That, and the ‘cheesecake’ portion is usually too sweet and rich, for me anyway. I’m pretty happy with this version though.

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But how do you make a cheese-like cake with no dairy? Cashews! These gorgeous nuts lend us their rich, luscious texture; and come close to creating that mouth feel that only cheese can give. Mix this with a hefty whack of blueberries, tart it up with some lemon juice and a few friends, and you have a banging crowd-pleasing dessert. Even the die-hard dairy hubby approved!
And what makes this little darling even more special, is that it comes with a complementary side of phytonutrients, antioxidants, magnesium, good fats, vitamin C and deliciousness – score!
A word of advice. If this is your first attempt at a dairy free cheesecake, don’t cut down on the volume. You need a certain amount of stuff in your blender to achieve a smooth consistency. I made two small cakes, but you can easily …