Friends on Friday - PANCAKES it is!

In the next few weeks I’ll be posting some of my ‘friends’ recipes, people who are in my life – who have helped me, supported me or used my services and vice versa. I have such a wonderful community that I thought it was essential to share them with you too.

The first of my ‘Friends on Friday’ is Dr Helen Alevaki of chiropractic4wellness in Rathdowne Street, Melbourne, she’s often told me of her Saturday morning ritual and she’s willing to share it with you too! Helen has been a chiropractor for 20 years and treats me regulary, I love that one of Helen’s goals is to never retire and provide chiropractic care to generations of her client’s – her motto in life is “It’s not the years in your life, but the life in your years…LIVE!!!”

‘Here is my recipe….my girls love pancakes…well, who doesn’t!  We make these on a weekend or during the holidays when I have more time for fluffing around the kitchen’. Helen

Grain-free Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

These grain-free apple cinnamon pancakes are simple to prepare, high in protein and offer a flavour and texture.

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 20 mins

Ready In: 35 mins

Yield: 8 - 12 Silver Dollar Pancakes (4 Servings)

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons applesauce

1 tablespoon honey/coconut syrup/maple syrup

1/2 cups coconut flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

 butter or coconut oil (for frying pancakes)

 cinnamon (for sprinkling the pancakes)

Method:

1. Toss eggs, applesauce and honey into a food processor and pulse until slightly mixed. Add coconut flour, salt and baking soda slowly to the liquid ingredients and process until they form a firm batter that is still liquid enough to pour off a spoon.

2. Melt ghee or coconut oil in a large frying pan over medium to medium-low heat. Pour a heaping tablespoon of the pancake batter into the hot fat, sprinkle with cinnamon. Gently fry the pancake for a few minutes, until browned on the bottom; flip the pancake and fry for a further one to two minutes.

Continue working in batches, adding ghee or coconut oil as necessary, until your batter exhausted. Serve with honey, fruit or yogurt.

This recipe is reprinted with permission of Dr. Jill Tieman and you can find more recipes like it in her online cooking classes: Go Grain-free.

Enjoy and happy Friday. Are you a pancake kid?

Bali. Beautiful Bali.

Image pinterst

As some of you may know, we’ve been really fortunate and have just spent the last few weeks on a family holiday in Bali. We had a great trip; we spent time in Ubud; ate, swam, walked through rice fields, drank fresh coconut juice and just hung out. We then went to the beach and had a villa in Bingin. If you’re a surfer you know where Bingin is! It is just as beautiful, the water was fresh and it was great swimming in the ocean in August and having the sun lick our skin. My boys’ legs became chocolate colour with their beautiful olive skin and I even got a bit of a tan too. It was a beautiful family holiday and when seeing a country with new eyes it’s made me think and see a few Indonesian qualities that I really like and think that maybe I should apply a little bit more to my life.

Gratitude

Every morning an offering of gratitude and faith is made. A beautiful simple offering to the gods to show thanks, give abundance and ask for protection. Flowers, fruit, sweets, rice, incense is offered in a bowl handmade from palm leaves. Master 3 and his mates were privileged to partake in this offering with Made our host. What a special way to start your day, a reminder to give thanks.

Nutrition/Diet

The Balinese diet is centered on rice and rice based products and is full of lots of colourful fruit and vegetables, herbs and spices. Protein mostly comes from soya bean, which is then processed into tofu or tempeh. Eggs play a big part in their diet and are nearly included in every meal; breakfast, lunch and dinner. The most common form of meat products are fish and poultry. 

Coconut products are used in abundance it's a heat stabilized fat making it great for cooking and is also full of the ‘good fats’ making it a key nutrient in their diet. Coconut is full of many healing properties; anti-viral, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, it's protective and energy giving. Most products have some sort of coconut milk/fat/oil used within. Also, peanuts are another main characteristic found in the Indonesian cuisine. Dairy is very rarely used but tea is drunk daily.

Lifestyle

The Balinese live a very relaxed life compared to their Aussie neighbors. Nothing is in too much of a hurry. Mostly the mornings are used to get the jobs done and the afternoons to relax and rest a little before the evening chores begin. I spoke with several locals who have had the opportunity to come and experience life in Australia and all said they couldn’t believe how hectic and busy everyone was, and that they much preferred their way of life. It is easy to breathe, walk and live without too many stresses.

Family

Family life is also very different to our way of life. Most families live in an extended family situation; that is with many relatives living in the same house or commune. The responsibility of children and babies are shared with all the members. They really do take into account the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. Mothers, like us work away from the home but have such a wonderful community to continue to raise and care for their children, I find it enviable.

It’s also very common for the Balinese to bed share with their children believing it is the best place for their child to sleep; close to them and protected.

And, I personally love that all children are named One (Wayan), Two (Made), Three (Nyoman), Four (Ketut) and then one (Wayan) again – seems to make life so much easier!

I loved our holiday to Bali, I have been lucky to go several times and I am always amazed at how patient and respectful the Balinese are to all the foreigners that grace their tiny island.     Merkassi.

What differences do you love about foreign places?

Free Range eggs

Here is a logo to look out for when you are buying Free range Eggs.  It seems to be getting very free range out there in the market place.

Check out their link.

Free range Farmers

Easy Ideas for Breakfast

• A Poached egg on toast with a side of rocket.
• A bowl of wholegrain cereal such as oats, topped with seeds and nuts, milk, yogurt and fresh fruit including berries, banana’s or kiwi’s.
• A fruit smoothie made with milk; soy, cows or rice, fresh fruit; berries, banana and honey. For extra oomph add a teaspoon of your favorite protein powder.

• Wholegrain toast topped with, tomato, avocado and humus, boiled egg and spinach, sardines or organic baked beans.
• Sardines on wholegrain toast.
• Untoasted muesli, Bircher or any topped with berries, stone fruit, half a banana and yoghurt.
• An omelet cooked with olive oil some mushrooms, onions and tomatoes.
• Pan fried tofu, mushrooms, onions and spinach on a wholegrain slice of toast drizzled in flaxseed oil.

Yunmmy and Easy

My friend just had a baby - well a few months ago now - I often make something for the new family and well time has just gotten away. I have now made this a few times for her and we have eaten it! 


It's so simple, so yummy, and HEALTHY I thought I would share. Also spinach contains iron which is great for breastfeeding mums. 

I don't mean for this blog to be a recipe catch up because I am certainly no cook - just into easy healthy food. And this one is great - it can be made for dinner, to share with friends at a picnic or cut up for lunch slices and best of all it can be frozen for later on.

Enjoy

Mum’s Spinach Pie

Ingredients.

4 Sheets of filo pastry

1 onion

200g feta

½ cup of parmesan cheese

2-3 free range eggs

1 bunch of organic spinach or silverbeet

Herbs; pepper, garlic, ¼ tblspn of nutmeg, sage or parsley.

Cook onion, garlic in frypan add washed spinach then COOL.

Add herbs. Give it a stir.

Mix eggs and a dash of milk, pour into cooled mixture.

Place 2 of the pasty sheets in a greased tray.

Break up the feta and parmesan over the mixture.

Then break up the final two sheets over the top of the tray.

Bake in pre-heated oven for 30-40mins at 180*C

A Vegetarian Baby

A friend asked me about vegetarian recipes for her baby. Now this could be controversial but I believe babies need red meat because red meat is the best source of Iron. And Iron in meat (haeme iron) is more easily absorbed than Iron (non-haeme iron) in vegetables.


Babies have immature gastrointestinal tracks, they are so very new and still developing and cannot therefore effectively digest and absorb everything they eat so it is important to fed them easily absorbed and digestible foods. And, as Iron in meat is more easily absorbed than veggie Iron this makes it a great source of Iron for babies.


Currently in Australia babies are encouraged to begin eating meat from 8 months, red meat is a terrific source of a complete protein and an easily digestible source of iron. The benefits of Iron include the production of haemoglobin, assists brain development and function, regulates body temperature and metabolism and lack of Iron directly affects the immune system. These are all important functions of a new and developing baby. If, (not only babies but) people don't eat and absorb enough iron they can acquire Iron deficiency anaemia, this can lead to a whole range of problems.


Iron benefits, deficiencies, food sources
Iron deficiency anaemia


Other sources of iron include wholegrains, nuts, eggs, legumes, seeds and of course iron fortified cereals - most baby foods including rusks have Iron added.


Also meat is a primary source of a complete-protein. Proteins primary function is to build and repair tissues and cells in the body and then amino acids which are the building blocks that make up proteins are key factors in aiding most of the functions and processes of the body - therefore proteins are very important in the growth and development of our babies. And I hear you ask that there is protein in seeds, nuts, grains, dairy but unless they are combined they are not complete proteins.


So a few easy red meat ideas for new babies are lamb cutlets and mince meat.  Mince meat is great because it's an easy protein source and can easily be made into lots of things; a shepards pie, rissoles, bolognese sauces and I make what I call a Moroccan style bolognese - with beans and potatoes in it (but no real spices). Of course you can source the best quality organic meats for you and your bubba. I know people choose to eat or not eat meat for all sorts of reasons,  ethical, cultural, religious, financial but my suggestion is in the first few years it is a good idea to feed your babies meat and they can later make their own decisions. If you choose to feed your baby as a vegetarian it is important to serve Vitamin C with every meal to prevent anaemia.


From 8 months I fed my baby lamb chop cutlets - he loved it, but that's not to say all will!