A Week of Food Porn

Following on from Melbourne, it appears that (aside from work and studies - oh and my big sis from Cairns is down to visit for the week!!) I've just been eating my way round town!

Whilst nannying last week I took the kids over to Manly and with my sister we had big smoothies and a raw lemon cheese cake - yep check out that colour - at Pure Wholefoods. It's my favourite place down there I love it! Loads of fresh juices and smoothies, and their menu has something for everyone and everything is supper duper fresh and bursting with flavour! But that cake! WOW! I've never seen anything like it and it tasted incredible! 

Psychadelic Cheesecake

 

One mango smoothie and one spirulina smoothie please :)

Then on Saturday night last week (I know, blogs slow to come this week), Brock had a farewell party at his place where we managed to cram close to 30 people into a one bedroom place! Safe to say it was cosy, but alot of fun! We had the juicer going, everyone brought amazing food, salads, coconuts, cakes, olives, fruits bowls, sweets...

And these are the little guys I made. I was following a recipe from Rawmazing here and yep, that's exactly what it was. RAWMAZING! And such a since to make! Mini orange chocolate cheesecakes.They melt in your mouth but are refreshingly soft, sweet and cool, straight from the freezer.

A friend of ours made these delicious little balls. A sticky, chewy, nutty ball with a surprise sesame centre. I've had my fair share of raw balls but nothing like these ones they were so good!

 

And delicious date and almond and date and coconut rolls... 

Yesterday my sisters and I ventured the 1 1/2hr drive out to Bowral where our dad and step mother live. We were blessed with amazing sunny weather, and of course great food.

Me, Lisa, Dad and Nikki

Gail had been busy in the kitchen preparing amazing food as usual. There was a fresh baked spinach and ricotta tart with cherry tomatoes, sourdough rolls, a big garden salad, fresh juices, teas and coffee, avocadoes, and this colourful plate was all mine!

My brunch platter

Fresh OJ a la Dad

Garden salad a la Gail

And that'd be me, Lisa and Nikki being silly buggers

This morning I was up early and ventured to Frenchs Forest Markets with Nikki and Zara. Now if you're a regular reader you'll know I get down there as much as I can and LOVE IT! There are always newbies there, loads of fresh organics, hot food, cold drinks, chemical free facial products, sweet treats, candles, breads, sprouts, buckets of strawberries, cold pressed oils... you name it!

Fresh juicy organic fruits

Zara and Nikki tasting olives

And my beautiful girl Tamara from The Goodness Company (omg in love with their maca truffle balls!!). I made sure I got a fresh Queensland coconut water this morning to stay hydrated - the sunshine was BLISS! Nikki got a bottle of kombucha and I got a piece of their caramel slice which I also love!

Tamara and I

All in all another successful tasty trip down to the markets! Always nice when the sun is shining too :)

Fresh seedlings to buy

Home made jams and marmalades

But hungry bellies call and so we jumped back in the car and rove home for green smoothies made by me! I threw a bunch of oranges in the blender with a truckload of spinach and a handful of dates. YUMMO! Zara and I sat in the sun very lazily enjoying our lazy Sunday, before heading out for a long walk (not so lazy after all!). Back home for some chill time, reading the papers and some trashy magz (love the mind numbing had one a lazy Sunday) and then down to Crows Nest for the annual Street Fair. We walked around getting a tad sunburnt (unaware at the time of course), watching performers, checking out clothing, jewellery, running into locals, drinking fresh OJ and munching on more dates and grapes, having a ball!

Green Smoothie time!

So for now guys n girls, THAT'S ME! I'm starting my new distance learning studies this week so I'll let you know how I go. I'll also be in the kitchen with my sister while she's here if I find the time, and then before I know it I'll be packing my bags again! This time next week I'll be up in Maroochydore! And hopefully typing to you with sticky mango fingers :)

Have a fruity one xx

Munching through Melbourne

Tell me that doesn't look totally amazing?

Well I can confirm to your curious tastebuds that yes, that amazing looking morsel to the right is was just that - AMAZING! It was once a delicious looking piece of raw lucuma and blueberry cheesecake, complete with a passionfruit dribble drizzle. Now it is but meerly a mouth watering memory I can recall if and when need be :)

This was only one of a few delicious things I treated myself too whilst down in Melbourne, even if it was only for 24hrs.

I flew down first thing Wednesday morning to go see Vienna: Art and Design at the National Gallery of Victoria. Why? Because I am a big fan of Gustav Klimt's artworks and having missed his pieces when I was in Paris 6yrs ago (of course it was the only section of the Gallery they were doing up at the time), I had to go see his work this time 'round. And I'm so so so glad I did.

Now this photograph below doesn't do the artwork justice in the slightest, but if you can imagine walking into a white painted room, and looking up to see this at one end, and the other walls covered in similar paintings, totally surrounding you, WOW! I was speechless. I spent a good 10 minutes or so just staring and admiring this room of paintings.

Anyways, onto the FOOD! So after a couple of hours of city wandering and meeting my step-dad for a green tea, I hurried up to RMIT University to meet my friend Lucy at the RealFoods Cafe and get some good food into me! I was starving!  

Green smoothie and the best granola bar ever were very much welcomed into my rumbling belly! Lucy and I sat there for a bit catching up and laughing before we both went our separate ways for the rest of the afternoon, before meeting up later for dinner.

A 45min walk to where I was staying, the afternoon sun was too delicious to not get out for a run (of course I packed my trainers). I ventured out and found a great park with a running track and some equipment to do some strength work too. Loads of people were out running, walking, bike riding, and skipping...
I love seeing that in Melbourne. Alot of people ride around everywhere, and the city has bikes for hire now to encourage more riders. I suppose as it;s so flat it's easier to do unlike Sydney where every turn is also a dip or another incline.

Then out for dinner where I walked over to Brunswick St and plonked my bum down at Yong Green Food restaurant. A vego/vegan asian food place, they now have a pretty decent sized raw menu -

Mock Salmon Roe; carrots, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, capsicum, cuke, avo, cashew cream wrapped in nori sheets
Cashew Bread Sandwich; with tomato, cuke, avo, lettuce, beet and walnut dip and tomato salsa
Nachos; chia chips with guac, salsa, cashew cheese, and spicy seeds
Nutty Burger; pattie of carrots, walnuts, flax, sunflower seeds, vegies and herbs, with avo, tomato, cashew sauce and side salad
Rawsagna; zuke with mushies, onion, cashew cream, tomato sauce
Hawaiian Live Pizza; macadamia nut bread topped with tomato sauce, cashew cheese, pineapple, olives and side salad

Nutty Burger at Yong's Green Food

I ordered the Nutty Burger after what was probably the longest decision making process in history! But you see, Lucy was running late and not really hungry so was just gonna do dessert, so I had to make the choice all on my own! If I had someone to share it with, I would've easily just got one of everything and split it!! :)
Anyways, no regrets. The Nutty Burger was so good, and had so much flavour!

When Lucy arrived, we ordered dessert. I got the Raw Pecan Pie (after culling off the multiple flavours of raw cheesecakes, a carrot cake, chocolate fudge and green tea ganache - only coz I figured that one I'd take away). It came out looking divine, but I have to say I was a little disappointed.
Not because it wasn't nice, but because I was expecting something sweeter with a real caramel-pecan-ness to it. But this was so, and tasted more like coconut to me. Still yummy, but I wanted caramel mmm.

Raw Pecan Pie at Yong's Green Food

Lucy ordered a Mango Lassi made with cashew milk which was uber good, and a few pieces of the green tea ganache. Oh. My God.

This was to die for! This is a combination of green matcha, brazil nuts, coconut, and agave covered in rich dark raw chocolate. The texture was exactly that of marzipan. And with a much similar flavour too. I'm definatley going to try and re-create this one sometime soon.

The restaurant itself was very busy but I have been told that it's always like that. Great food, friendly service, and pretty quick too. Without a doubt I'll be back there asap!

Once we left there Lucy took me over to Veggie Bar. This place is a sort of institution with locals I believe. The vibe is kinda American-burger-joint style. Trendy tunes, cool set-up, neon lights, great looking menu, generous servings, decent prices! What more could you ask for? And yep, it's all vego! These guys also do a small raw menu which changes daily. The night we went though - that amazing cheesecake.

Veggie Bar

Melbourne... Until next time

Nine New Recipes!

I’ve been having a BLAST the past couple of weeks - well apart from a very emotional week last week where I resembled Miss Moody Bitch - but I'm all good now! So on with the ramblings...

So I decided to leave college - GASP - yeh I know! I loved it! But it's ok coz I am actually still studying; only I've decided to continue through another college via distance. This way I’ve got more time for other things I really really want to be doing! So it's better!

I’ve been pumping out my David Wolfe studies (I began his Raw Food Certification in February and LOVE IT!), and reading up on anything and everything nutrition as always. Just having the time to do that tho has felt wonderful! I feel that I've learnt so many interesting and fascinating facts and figures lately. I'm reading more and more; currently working through Raw Food and Hot Yoga by Tonya Zavesta (highly recommend it, I cant put it down so looking forward to her other 4 books I also got!!), 80/10/10 by Doug Graham (great for high carb lovers like me), and Raw: Your Biggest Questions Answered which has 12 experts contributing to the words on those pages. Ontop of college notes, other blogs, magazines and newspapers, I should find a way to get paid to read!

Topics like eating for nervous system troubles, why its all about fat and not sugar when trying to win the diabetes battle, fasting and calorie intake on raw, more on herbal remedies that still amaze me (I joke about it as my sister is a qualified Naturopath, me the nutrition buff – never interested in herbs – but working with them daily through my job, reading and learning more about them, it wouldn’t surprise me if I went on the study them also)... everything I've been educated on recently has fascinated me!

I've been eating loads of the best organic oranges ever! It's nearing the end of the navel season so Brock and I have been stocking up as we're mildly obsessed with these babies! Straight from the farmer down at lower Portland, Brock goes to pick them when he can. You can snavell these up at Kings Cross, Marrickville and Double Bay markets otherwise. Bar none, these are the best organic oranges around! I've just had about 7 juicy ones after my 90minute yoga class and feeling mighty fine!

And check these out - baby (albeit a little mangled) carrots straight from my backyard! To be honest I wasn't the best mummy to these little babies, but they gave me more than I deserved when I bit into them and was blown away by the flavour! WOW! Definately growing carrots again!

I’ve finally begun compiling and designing - actually creating my very first recipe book! I’m really excited about it, but my only downfall (which of course is also a blessing) is my Little Miss Perfect who can sometimes hold things up trying to have it just right. But I’m grateful to her also or I could end up with a shitty book! So that's making progress...

Kitchen fun, kitchen fun and more kitchen fun!! I’ve been creating new recipes for a little something in the pipeline I’ll let you all in on when it comes to fruition! But again, something very exciting! I had a few people over last week for afternoon tea (and scrutiny) to see how the recipes were. Here are some of the delicious morsels I made -

My 9 new recipes all in nice big sized rounds :)

I was sure to have a light lunch this day :)

Then plated up in bite-sized pieces so we could get through em all!

This is the Sesame Halva Ball which tasted just as the name suggests. I was always a Halva fan so re-creating a better version is bliss to my tastebuds!

This was inspired by nut bars I used to eat in high school, and the college girls still get them at college. Apricot-Almond-Coconut. Always a winning combination I think!

This recipe is a sure fire winner! I wanted something sugar free as I see so many people each day come to the shop on some sort of elimination diet, or candida diet so can't have sugar but emotions can often lead too (with women especially) emotional eating where we want something sweet. Welcome my SUGAR FREE BLONDIE! This is so damn good.

Then the treat when you don't want nuts. Personally I prefer to eat whole nuts then have them blended up into something where I don't know how much I'm eating. Having said that, I'll usually take you up on an offer of a treat :) But this one is all seeds baby! Bird food! But I love it! I'd call it Berry's Bird Seed Ball.

Then this guy was the first chocolate one I made and loved it - until I made a different one which shits on this one! This is very dark with little sweetness. Crunchy Chocolate Ball I suppose... real original I know but prob not a recipe I'll keep so who cares!
But the second choccie one... well it was chewy and dense, rich and chocolately, sweet, and definately made you want more. It was like the best chocolate brownie ever - only better!

Then there was this one. Inspired my my little sister wanting something lemon I created this - Lemon Delicious and my-oh-my yes it was delicious! It reminded us of a slice mum made us when we were kids. Light and fresh I've since made this recipe twice over for birthdays and gifts!

And this one I wasn't so keen on but turns out it was a favourite of most! There you go! It had everything you could think of in it!

And these little guys were my sisters recipe and damn they were good and chewy and sweet and rich and chocolatey... mmm. Antioxidant rich mouth-fulls of cranberries, goji berries, cacao.

However I did promise a recipe this time so here’s one I created and have fallen head over heels for –

Lemon Delicious
1 cup cashews, ground
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup coconut
6 drops food grade lemon oil*

Throw all ingredients into your food processor and let it rip until everything is well combined and the mixture has become sticky enough to form balls, logs, squares, whatever you want!
This quantity will make just over a dozen small balls.

*try lemon rind here, I only tried this recipe for flavour but would rather lemon rind, or freeze dried organic lemon powder I've seen in stores too

To take away please ??

Be sure to ENJOY your treats and share the LOVE :)

Does your lymphatic system need a boost?

I've been in the kitchen all day creating and tasting new recipes (10 or 11 in total!!) I've had a BLAST! I'll have to shoot some mouth watering piccies and get the recipes up here for you guys PRONTO!

In the meantime, I've recently done two different posts for Tera Warners website. If you missed the last one you can find it here - it'a all about KELP.

And the more recent one is about a little herb called Cleavers; great for your lymphatics. Check that one out here.

High Carb Start to the Day

Fancy a high carb refreshingly delicious start to your day?

Brock was off early this morning for a long ride through the Blue Mountains with a mate of his so I did the good girlfriend thing and got up to make him brekkie. I had bananas and dates in mind for the carbs, but he also wanted celery and ginger...

WOWZA!

I made myself one after he left...

5 small bananas
6-8 medjool dates
1 stick of celery
3 tiny slices of ginger
Filtered water

Enough for one hungry chika! Blend and serve. Sweet banana and date. Refreshing lift and cleansing sensation from the celery. And the ginger is the ZING!

If you know your body isn't so keen with alot of carbs by all means tone it down but this combo is a sure fire winner! Every cell in my body was grinning from ear to ear :)

Quite possibly the best salad I've had out...

Happy Fathers Day!! (ps. how amazing does that salad look? Give me a sec and I'll spill all...)

This morning I was up early, had coffee with Dad, sweated it out at yoga with the boy, met a girlfriend for a few apples (me) and a steak sandwich (her) over chit chats, saw my cousin, picked up my fruit n vegie box, made an awesome salad, went for a walk with mum, visited my sister at work, washed the car with the boy, hot shower, made dinner, and now blogging! Phew; I'm exhausted!!

And so very very happy that I am now on college holidays! 2 weeks off!!! YAY! And with this amazing weather we've had so far... couldn't be happier :)

So how'd the celebrations begin? Well with food and sunshine of course!

On Friday night I went to Yulli's on Crown Street which I had never been too, had heard alot about, and always wanted to get too so I was very excited.  No yummy piccies to make you drool over sorry but they do have a vegan menu to choose off, and alot of options in that! I got a pear and orange salad with a dressing of who-knows-what buy my god was it delicious!

And yesterday I drove to the Northern Beaches to see my beautiful baby sister who has been house sitting so I hadn't seen her all week. We ventured down to The Healthy Chef in Avalon. This place is owner by Teresa Cutter who you may or may not know of. She writes for Womens Health magazine alot and does TV appearances here and there. A really inspiring lady who advocates organic fresh produce. Easy. Simple. Delicious.

"Teresa has combined her knowledge on food, diet and exercise to specialize in developing healthy recipes for people who love food, who love to eat and who have made a conscious decision to maximize their health and well-being."

So like I said she also has this cafe - and it's somewhere I had wanted to go for sooo long it had gotten ridiculous. So Lisa and I went! I was jumping out of my skin with excitement!

The menu is extensive and everything sounds delicious...
oatmeal power porridge with banana chunks and a little honey, pear and blueberry crumble, fresh salmon, big brekkies, zucchini fritters, sweet treats, amazing smoothies, organic juices, aromatic coffee and teas, even fresh coconuts!

Lisa and I couldn't decide whether to share a big smoothie or not to being with, so when surprised me with this super duper delicious mango, strawberry and apple smoothie (aka"Antioxidant") my taste buds got a real treat!

Lisa then ordered the special poached eggs, tomato, avocado, rocket, pesto stack thingy that looked amazing. And I orderd the Detox Salad - OMG..

Salad leaves, baby spinach, broccolini, avocado, roasted walnuts, pumpkin seed, ground flax seed, wakaeme + goji berry. The fiber in the salad will fill you up and the acid in vinegar (acetic acid) helps suppress the appetite. Served with side of apple balsamic + olive oil. Packed with Omega 3 + iodine + protein + antioxidants to help protect our immune system and facilitate weight loss.

Sound amazing? You betcha! It's that damn fine salad you saw earlier - 

A decent sized bowl! Thank you! Someone finally knows how to make a proper sized salad!

Super cute presentation, the first thing that got me giddy before anything even touched my lips was the wooden board it was served on, with olive oil and vinegar for my own use (another plus - sometimes you get nothing and other times you're eating the salad with your dressing, not the other way around!!).I was in Heaven!

Then, of course, a raw truffle to go. Without knowing what was in it, I tasted coconut, maybe vanilla... Lisa got apricot... whatever it was it was divine! I think they change them up every now and then. Anyways, always gotta try new ones I see! Market research I like to call it :)

Then we walked up to the peninsula for some sunshine,bliss, and happy healthy banter.

We spent the rest of the afternoon cruising round the nooks and crannies of the northern beaches, checking out million dollar views, fresh sea air, what I termed "creative spots" and of course, singing to Lady Gaga.

So I am so happy I can now say I have delighted my taste buds at The Healthy Chef and will definatley get back there whenever I can! Ooh another plus is a cool organic fruit and veg store only 2 or 3 doors up with loads of produce!

Detox Energy Salad

150 g mixed leafy greens
1 bunch broccolini or asparagus lightly steamed
1/2 avocado
10 g pumpkin seeds
10 g sunflower seeds
10 g walnuts
20 g goji berries
40 g wakaeme seaweed (rehydrated in cold water for a few minutes)
10 g ground flax seed (linseed)

Arrange the salad leaves into serving bowls. Lay over the broccolini, seaweed, avocado and sprinkle over the seeds + goji berries.
Serve with your favorite dressing. I like to make a lovely green parsley, lemon + mint salsa verde which goes perfectly with this salad. For a complete meal and added protein top with fish or grilled tempeh.

Enjoy. Serves 2

Dark Night of The Soul returning Home

Ok so whether or not you guys have been wondering what I've been eating (besides cacao and all things exceptionally sweet thanks to turning 26 a couple of weeks ago) since posting about eating cooked foods for a month back here, I'm going to let you know how I've been doing.

I've had a few people make comment when they've seen me eating massive kale salads "oh you're back on raw food again?" to have me reply with such enthusiasm YES-E-REE!

So why the change back and what's happened in between?

Well, I'm a big believer in hindsight! I've said it before and I'll say it again; hindsight is a very valuable thing. When we go through things that seem to feel odd, strange, or difficult... when we feel like we don't know why we're veering down a particular path or what's ahead, sometimes we just need to go with it, check out the scenery, until we hit the end of the road and only then we can easily stop to think. It's a little tough to process things whilst still driving the car or paddling in the boat (or whatever analogy you wish to use).

Mumbo jumbo? Ok, so from my personal experience just had on cooked foods - I explained it to a friend only today actually. Now that I can look back in hindsight I can clearly see that those few weeks on cooked foods was very much like a Dark Night of the Soul (familiar with Thomas Moore? If not, get familiar here or buy his book here - definatley one for your collection).

A Dark Night of The Soul, whilst stuck in it, is not alway pretty. It's where we feel lost. Things look dark and gloomy. We experience fears, trials and tribulations, tests and challenges along the way - think of Dorothy and her friends through the woods in The Wizard of Oz. You neer quite know why you're there, experiencing whatever it may be, until you come out on the other side. Where you can then look back. Reflect. And take the learnings with you. Or maybe not. Maybe it was just something you had to go through - to go through.

I felt fine on cooked foods but I didn't feel GREAT. I also felt tired and quiet. Withdrawn and wanting my own space at the same time. Looking back it really was almost hibernation - physically during Winter and doing very minimal exercise. Emotionally being withdrawn and retreating within. Mentally by just going to classes but not actually doing alot. And spiritually - as I took a break like a caterpillar in a cocoon; awaiting what was ahead whilst having no freakin idea waht it may be! But simply trusting.

That's what I did. I just trusted. I didn't know if I'd continue eating cooked foods or not. I didn't know if I'd come back from my slumber better or worse. But I trusted that what was meant to happen would.

And of course it did. So where am I now?

Back on raw foods baby! And I can say that with such clarity and certainty because of what I have been through. I feel better than ever! Day by day, more and more. I feel like I've had deeper learnings and new realisations. Some simple some more complex. As the weather warms up and the seasons are nearing change again, so too is my body as I feel the pull to really move! In Winter I eat alot more kale and carrots, but in Summer all I eat is fruit. Every fruit. My body craves it! And I can feel the pull slowly. My body wants the water and the carbs. I must have eaten over 10kgs of oranges this week coz my body wants, wants, wants them! I can't get enough! And I've just ordered 18kgs of watermelon - first organic tray this season comes tomorrow and I'm salivationg just thinking about it!

I'm feeling stronger. I'm feeling wiser. I'm feeling like my feet are firmly planted on the ground without being stuck in the ground. And I'm excited!

I know my body works at its best when it's fuelled by a high fruit, low fat diet. But maybe I needed my Dark Night of cooked foods to get things back in order to fuel up again. I am always grateful for my dark nights, even though I can get caught up in them whilst in them. I have always learnt so much from them.

Just like animals and plants change with the season, I believe us humans need too also. And berating ourselves for wanting warm heavier cooked foods over Winter whilst trying to force light cos lettuce down our throats seems silly. Go with the Seasons; however that works best for you. And if you hit a Dark Night every now and then, know it's there for a reason, even if you have absolutley no idea what that may be...

You're not meant too know...

until later x