The Health Benefits of Tempeh

Look, Tempeh is not the most attractive member of the soy family but one thing is for sure, its super healthy. If you are vegetarian or vegan, Tempeh should pretty much be a 'must have' in your diet.

Why??

Well, Tempeh is a great source of B12, actually its one of the only vegan/vegetarian products that have a rich source of B12. Once you have a B12 deficiency there is no return! So you definitely want to make sure you are getting lots of this goodie vitamin.

So, what is Tempeh?

Tempeh is fermented soy. Fermented soy is great as its easy to digest and doesn't have the phytoestrogenic effects of regular soy. I am sure you have all heard a lot of conflicting advice about eating soy, well fermented soy is the best way to consume soy products.

Tempeh can be delicious protein source if you know know to cook it. Check out this easy and quick tempeh salad-

Ingredients:

1 block of organic non-GMO Tempeh
Your favourite marinade (I recommend Kona Coast Island Teriyaki Marinade)
Rice bran spray oil (or any other high smoke point oil)

Directions:
-Cut the tempeh into thin strips, maybe 1/2 -1cm thick.
-Spread them out in a dish and coat with the marinade (about 2 -3 tbs for one block of tempeh)
- Leave the tempeh to marinate for about 15-30min
- Heat a fry pan with a little spray oil and cook tempeh on medium heat for 4-6 min on each side.
- Serve with your favourite salad greens and veggies ;)

Of course you make your own marinade, tempeh goes well with pretty much any kind of sauce so feel free to use whatever is your favourite!

Enjoy!

Portobello Mushroom Burger with 'Grass Fed' Cheese

Check this out....

Looks good huh?? 

Portobello Mushrooms are a great vegan/ vegetarian substitute for a regular meat patty. Sure they lack in protein but they are a great source of B vitamins and selenium! 

A couple of ways to make your sandwich healthier is to use sandwich thins rather than thick hamburger buns or use lettuce leaves to hold it all together, this way you are cutting back on the carbs. 

But what I really want you to pay attention to is the use of Corn- Fed cow milk which is used in majority of the cheese and dairy products here in the USA. (For my Aussie readers, all cows are grass fed so this is not a problem! )

Feeding corn to cows has got to be the worst idea since Monsanto patented the GM Soybean. 

Here's the story- 

Corn is fed to cows in the USA because its cheap. Cows cannot digest corn properly so what happens is that it ferments in their gut and causes the cow to become sick. To counteract the sickness the cows are fed hormones, antibiotics and a host of other chemical compounds. Then, you guessed it, the cow is milked and all the hormones and antibiotics are leached into the cow milk  and into the dairy by-products like cheese. Yuk!

Grass fed, organic dairy is the best way to go to avoid consuming chemical, hormonal by products in your food. This applies to meat, dairy and milk! 

Ingredients:

1 serve

1 portobello Mushroom

1 Sandwich thin pulled in half (or two lettuce cups)

1 tbs. your favourite organic pasta/ marinara sauce 

2 tbs. grass fed cow cheese

1/2 cup of baby spinach leaves

balsamic vinegar

rice bran oil spray 

Directions:

1.) Spray your pan with rice bran oil spray (or you can use any other high smoke point oil) and place the portobello in the pan and cook on each side for 3-5 min. Once cooked drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Leave to cool.

2.) If you are using sandwich thins, toast them lightly in the broiler/ griller 

3.) To assemble the burger place the spinach on the bread, top with the mushroom, the pasta/marinara sauce, cheese and finish off with the other bread half!

This recipe is SO simple, feel free to adjust and add whatever you want! 

Enjoy!

And remember- GO GRASS FED! 

Imaginative Yogurt Parfait

Whether you are gluten free, lactose intolerant, carb conscious, vegetarian, vegan or simply watching your waistline, there is something in this sweet treat for everyone!

Forget ditching the diet when it comes to dessert time, why not opt for a healthy but equally delicious Yogurt Parfait!

There are tonnes of substitutions (which is why I named this entry imaginative yogurt parfait!) with this recipe but here is what I used in the pic:

Makes 1

1 kashi soft cherry vanilla breakfast bar
1 tub (200g) of greek yogurt
1/2 cup of organic blueberries
Water

In a saucepan throw the berries or fruit with enough water to lightly cover the base of the pan, let the berries cook till the soften down and become mushy. About 10 minutes. You may need to keep adding water as you go on. This is your sauce, you can add more water if you want it runnier. Once cooled it should be a smooth gel like consistency.

In a parfait glass crush up 1/2 of the breakfast bar to form the base, next spoon a layer of the greek yoghurt and drizzle with the blueberry sauce that has cooled as well as some fresh blueberries.

Keep repeating each layer until you have filled your parfait glass!

Refrigerate and serve!!

Now here is where the imagination comes into play! Check out these substitutions and follow your heart to whatever you want to use!

Instead of....

A breakfast bar: try graham cracker crumbs, crushed oreos, crushed choc chip cookies, cake crumbs, toasted oats, toasted coconut flakes, cereal, choc bits, chopped nuts, ground flaxseeds

Blueberries: try strawberries, raspberries, mango, peaches, cherries, apricot, apple, pear, nectarines, plums etc etc

Greek yogurt: Coconut yogurt (if you are lactose intolerant), sheep yogurt

See where your imagination takes you!!

Farmers Market Figs

Never underestimate the value of simple cooking with good quality ingredients. Just by adding a few high quality, fresh ingredients you can instantly jazz up your meal and increase its vitality! 

Try using fresh herbs instead of dried, use good quality oils in cooking and in dressings and never underestimate the bold flavour of farmers market fruit and veggies! 

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so why not create a quick and simple meal that is full of vitality and life! 

Here I have taken a plain and simple cardboard box granola and added some life to it by using fresh figs straight from the market.

Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference......

Go on, add some vitality to your meals!!!

Banana Cake Ice Cream Sandwich

Carbs are my weakness, the thought of biting into a moist cake or a chewy cookie will get me every time. So I have come up with a cool way to reduce portion sizes on those treats we all love.

Check out my Banana Cake Ice- Cream Sandwich.

I took a regular wholegrain banana nut muffin from the supermarket, (yes, sure it was loaded with preservatives and many chemical ingredients but hey, sometimes a girl just wants a muffin!) cut it in half and hollowed out the insides. I love the muffin top (hahaha no pun intended!) so I left that in tack.

The idea is to scoop out as much of the middle as you can. But it doesn't end there, to replace the insides of the hollow muffin, add one scoop of ice cream!!

I used green tea ice cream but you can choose whatever flavour you desire!

Look, its not healthy but it sure is good! And you are significantly reducing your portion size but not taking away any of the yumminess!

Enjoy!

Lost at Sea in a Lentil Salad

Sadly, we are coming to the end of summer.
The days of eating salads and refreshing meals will slowly fade away and be replaced with hearty stews and steaming hot soups.....BUT, until then we can all rejoice in this Lentil Salad.

I love this lentil salad because its hearty enough to be a meal but is still light and refreshing for the summer.

As always, its quick and easy too!

To get started you will need;

1 red onion finely diced
1 pack of trader joe's steamed french style lentils (of course you can use fresh lentils or canned)
6-7 cups of baby spinach
1 block of reduced fat fetta, cubed
1 bunch of italian parsley, chopped
olive oil
balsamic vinegar.

1.) Combine the onion and parsley in a large bowl and coat lightly with olive oil. Toss and set aside.
2.) Meanwhile to prepare the lentils heat a fry pan with a little spray oil and gently warm the lentils.
3.) Add the lentils to the onion mix and throw in the spinach and fetta cubes. The warm lentils will help lightly wilt the spinach and make the fetta creamy - yum!
4.) Drizzle with a really good quality balsamic vinegar and more olive oil.
5.) Serve!

(Makes 7 serves)

YUM!

Enjoy!

Enriching Desserts & Cinnamon

I love eating dessert, I mean lets face it, who doesn't??? I don't think we should ever feel guilty around food,  I am a firm believer that when you are in alignment with your body and its needs there is no need for fad diets or negative feelings around food. Easier said than done, but I think working towards this should be the goal.

In the mean time, why not add some nutrition to your desserts?! It can be as simple as adding some ground linseeds to your ice cream or using more nutritious ingredients such as organic eggs, using raw sugar or natural sweeteners like stevia or agave, and using rice bran oil instead of vegetable oil. Simple huh?!

Need more convincing?? Check out this dessert----

Looks good huh??!!

Well the focus of this dessert is cinnamon. Cinnamon has been in the media recently as some smarty pants discovered it was excellent at controlling insulin levels- like this is new news??!?!?!

Eastern Medicine has been using Cinnamon for centuries to help regulate blood sugar levels, ease an upset stomach and improve circulation. Now that these benefits are being rediscovered cinnamon is available in tablet form in a therapeutic dose.

Living in the western world we can probably all use a little help with our insulin levels so why not try to get more cinnamon into our diets?!

Try my yummy, quick and easy CINNAMON recipe-

You will need:

Cinnamon (of course)
Organic Greek yoghurt (made from grass fed cows)
Kashi Cereal bar (you can choose any granola/ muesli bar that is under 5g of sugar and is high protein)

Crush up the bar into sizeable chunks and layer in a parfait glass with generous sprinkles of cinnamon and dollops of yoghurt. Enjoy!!!!