My super food immune boosting smoothie and week 4 of the 52 week money challenge

Every morning for awhile now I've been slurping on a smoothie for my breakfast.  I love walking out to the garden and picking the ingredients for this, and the herbs and spinach benefit from the daily picking as it encourages more growth. I've been unwell of late so have been drinking this to gain the  myriad of health benefits that are packed in it instead of taking an expensive handful of vitamins I feel I must be lacking.  It may not look pretty, as it is blended in it's pure form but it packs a mean punch which I actually really like and it keeps my tummy sated from breakfast until lunch. 

So whats in my super food smoothie?  A very generous handful of spinach, a small banana, a small handful of blueberries, a few stawberries that may be ready, a handful of both mint and parsley, 1 tspn of chia seeds, 1 tspn of flaxseeds, and filtered water.  Occasionally I will add a dollop of yoghurt also.  Pop it all into a blender and go your hardest.  If it's too thick just keep adding more water until you get it to a drinkable consistency.

Spinach is a powerhouse of nutrients, namely protein, vitamin A, K, C, B, iron, folate, magnesium, manganese, fiber and antioxidants.

You do need to use it up quickly as little as 8 days after harvest it loses a lot of these super food qualities.  For this reason, grab yourself a big pot and grow some perennial spinach, it will save you $'s and be ready for you to keep picking for weeks and weeks each morning as fresh as a daisy.

Chia seeds are an amazing little seed.  They contain lots nutrients and lots of protein so keep you fuller for longer and is great if you are trying to move some of the Christmas cheer off your belly.  When a chia seed is hit with water, it forms a coating of gel, increasing it's size and weight without adding calories.  It is easily added to lots of your cooking~baking-sweet & savoury, salads, smoothies, cereal and anything you would use nuts or seeds for.  I love to dip a banana into them for an afternoon snack that really satisfies.  

Berries are a powerhouse of antioxidants and nutrients that aren't lost when frozen which is great as I buy an organic frozen brand of my blueberries.  They are low GI, improve heart health, high in Vitamin c, potassium and fiber and they have been linked to protecting your cells from damage that can lead to cancer and it helps that they look and taste great too.

Parsley has the potential to help keep your immune system strong, tone your bones and heal the nervous system as well.  It is packed with Vitamins A, B12, C and K, folic acid and is known the help with joint pain as it has anti-inflammatory properties.  Pretty amazing huh.

Mint has soothing properties that help the digestive tract and severity of stomachaches.  It is a strong diuretic and therefore helps eliminate toxins from the body.  Mint is high in Vitamin A & C, iron, magnesium, manganese, iron, zinc, calcium and copper.

Flaxseeds are another amazing little fella.  They are hailed as being a fat burning seed as they can fire up your metabolism.  They have omega 3's, very high in fibre, rich in antioxidants, B Vitamins, potassium and protein.

Are you keen to give it a try?  Do you already drink 'green' smoothies? Your insides will thank you!  If you really can't stomach this type of smoothie for breakfast, you can have it for lunch or add all of these ingredients to a salad for a flavour packed bowl of deliciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Week 4 of the 52 week money challenge so go and add your $4 to your money box.  It's not to late to start!!

Ciao, Jan.

lemony berry muffins

These little gems are rippers to whip up after dinner, whack in the oven, put the kids to bed, read a story, put the kettle on and they should be ready for you to sit back with your feet up with a cup of tea in a special cup and enjoy. If it makes you feel better, they are pretty low in fat, but if you eat more than one or two, I can't be held responsible for the repercussions.

Lemony Berry Muffins

2 Large Lemon (topped, tailed, quartered)

120g Butter

300g Gluten Free SR Flour (I happened to have some gluten free flour but it will work just as well with normal self raising flour)

60g Sugar ( I personally think it needs more to help offset the bitterness of the lemon pith, so I added 2 tbspns of agave syrup or you could make it 120g sugar or even brown sugar)

100g Milk

3 Eggs

120g Blueberries

 Preheat fan forced oven to 200c. Prepare 12 hole Muffin tin with cases, or lightly oil.

In a high speed food processor, blend the whole lemon and butter together for 10-30 seconds.

Add all other ingredients, excluding blueberries. Mix well.

Lastly, gently add Blueberries.

Spoon evenly into the 12 cases, approximately 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 mins, checking after 15 minutes. Muffins are ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the tin before devouring! 

I've kept them in the freezer and defrost them and have them with a dollop of yoghurt and some crushed walnuts, a healthy version of pudding!

Ciao, Jan

A fabulous dinner with a Gluten free Vegan

I have a dear friend who is on a strict diet due to health reasons.  I was so excited to receive a text off her during the week to say she would be in town over the weekend.  We settled on dinner at our place and I took on the challenge with excitement to create a memorable, tasty dinner for her.  So the challenge ~ gluten free and vegan.......(can you hear crickets....)  We can together not draw breath for hours talking about food and new recipes we have tried and meals we have had, so to just give her a slab of tofu on a bed of lettuce topped with nuts wasn't going to cut it. I got to thinking....and here is what I came up with for the big event using nearly all of produce from the garden.

Entree 

herb pesto dip with kale chips (so good!!) & croudites platter

olives from a friends tree

Main

Fresh broadbeans with mint, chilli, and lentil salad with a lemon juice & evoo dressing

Moroccan Cauliflower 'cous cous' with currants, almonds, coriander and mint salad with a cinnamon, coriander, tumeric and cumin dressing

Rocket with fresh garden peas, sprouts, avocado and seeds (flaxseed, chia seeds, pepitas and sunflower seeds) salad with lemon juice & evoo dressing

Roasted root vegetables (sweet potato, potato, parsnip,beetroot and carrot) with rosemary, sage and walnuts

Roasted lemony free range chicken for the carnivores

Dessert

Rhubarb, apple and blueberry nut crumble served with a dollop of coconut yoghurt

Rhubarb, apple and blueberry crumble
for the stewed fruit
2 apples, peeled, cored and thickly sliced (I like them to be still slightly firm and not totaly moosh)
6 stalks of rhubarb, peeled and chopped
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 tblspns of dark agave syrup
1 cup of water or so
Place apples and rhubarb, syrup & water in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes or until the fruit is tender.  Drain off the excess water. Place in an oven proof dish along with the blueberries.  You can leave it covered in the fridge for a day or two at this stage.

for the crumble
I don't measure when I make this but I'll try and give you a guide.  You really can't go wrong.  Add whatever combinations your heart desires ~macadamias, sultanas, seeds but here is the version we had
1 cup of almond meal (if you don't have almond meal, just blitz up a cup of almond until they resemble fine crumbs)
1/2 amaranth flakes
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup of roughly chopped almonds
1/4 cup of roughly chopped walnuts
1 tbspn chia seeds
1 tbspn sunflower seeds
1 tspn vanilla extract
2 tbspns of dark agave or you can use brown sugar
3-4 tbspns evoo
Mix all together in a bowl and it should be a slightly moist mixture, the evoo and agave will have coated all the seeds and nuts well.  Arrange an even spread over the fruit and bake in a preheated 180c oven for approx 20 minutes or until golden and bubbly.  I served this with "Co Yo" a coconut milk 'yoghurt' dairy free alternative but its just as good with plain greek yoghurt or vanilla icecream.

Over the next week I'll be adding the recipes from the main course as they are super easy and flavour sensations.

Ciao, Jan