Friends on Friday - Are you a pumpkin TART?

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My beautiful friend Anne, (one half) of Ennis Perry Creative is so creative she created these delicious pumpkin tarts herself! I’ve always loved Anne’s style and the way she makes things look beautiful. When I first meet her, many moons ago it was her small handmade fashion label 'Luce handmade', which caught my eye, but now she’s concentrating on bigger things.

Through shared partnership, the studio of Ennis Perry Creative has built a reputation for creating unique and beautiful work, designs that give real emotion to brands - watch this space. They have recently completed the beautiful eBook 'A Nourishing Kitchen', which contains 42 fantastic wholefood recipes from Amy Crawford at The Holistic Ingredient.

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But enough bragging of how she makes things beautiful, she also makes food taste delicious – these Pumpkin tarts are a must try. They’re delicious as a snack, lunch or dinner and pumpkins are in season now so snap one up at your next Farmers Market and make them this weekend.

Ingredients

1 Cup Plain Flour

1/2 Cup Besan Flour

1/2 Cup of blended nuts & seeds -Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds & walnuts

1/2 Cup Water

1/3 Cup Olive Oil or Coconut Oil

1/2 Pumpkin

4 Free Range Eggs

1/2 Cup Parmesan

1 Tablespoon of Coconut Cream

Celtic Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper

Tomato Sliced

Base Ingredients

1 Cup Plain Flour

1/2 Cup Besan Flour

1/2 Cup of blended nuts & seeds

1/2 Cup Water

1/3 Cup Olive Oil or Coconut Oil

Instructions for base

Mix dry ingredients together add water and oil

Grease tins with butter

Press into tart dish or tin, as thin as you can without any holes

Blind bake for 10mins at 180°

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Filling Ingredients

1/2 Pumpkin cut into small pieces

4 Eggs

1/2 Cup Parmesan

1 Tablespoon of Coconut Cream

Celtic Salt and Ground Black Pepper

Tomato Sliced

Instructions for filling

Cut pumpkin into small pieces and remove all seeds

Boil or steam pumpkin until soft

Once pumpkin is soft blend until a puree

Add all ingredients together in a bowl and mix

Divide amongst dishes and top with a tomato slice

Sprinkle with a little extra parmesan

Bake for 10-15mins at 180° or until firm

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Serve warm with a Salad on the side – absolutely perfect

Let us know if you try them out, instagram it and tag us too. You can follow Ennis Perry Creative here and while you're at it follow Love Your Health here.

Five Favourite Fertility Foods

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Eat an avocado a day.

Avocados: if you cut an avo in half – what does it look like? A pregnant woman’s belly with a bulging seed = fertility. The humble avocado is full of wonderful therapeutic fats, those ‘good’ fats that our bodies need. These fats are especially beneficial for healthy female reproductive organs and known to balance the hormones.

 Eat eggs daily they are a super fertility food.

Eggs: If you know me I love eggs. They are an excellent source of protein full of nutrients and two eggs equal a complete serve of protein, good quality fats and packed with fertility nutrients. Remember the best quality is best for you so try organic and definitely free range.

Eat Wild Caught Atlantic Salmon for fertility power. 

Fish: The perfect fish for fertility is Wild Caught Atlantic Salmon, it’s full of omega 3 fatty acids, it’s a high quality protein and packed with vitamin B12 and Iron; all the things needed for making babies. Be sure to pay the premium price because you do pay for what you get! Wild caught means that it has never been fed pink pellets to colour its flesh like some farmed salmon is – true story.

Eat seeds and nuts as an awesome fertility snack.

Seeds and Nuts: Good quality seeds and nuts are full of good fats, proteins and essential vitamins and minerals to get the fertility train moving. Try organic and definitely support local when purchasing. Pumpkin seeds or pepitas are especially high in zinc, which is essential for both males and females when it comes to excellent egg and sperm quality.

 Eat figs as a fertility treat. I love them fresh off the tree.

Figs: A real must for improving and boosting male semen, they’re quite specific for treating the male reproductive system, after all what do they look like! Eat them fresh, dried, baked, mix them with goats cheese or other culinary delights. They’re full of essential vitamins and minerals to help you reach your peak.

Of course baby making may not be that simple, so come in for a consult and we can tailor a pre-conception plan especially for you addressing you and your partners individual needs.

Want to make a baby? My top tips on how

Fertility and pre-conception care is something close to my heart.  I love babies, I love new life, and I love assisting and educating people about healthy, smart, correct choices to make the best possible baby they can.

I’ve recently spent time at a massive Fertility Intensive Conference in Sydney. As the name suggests it was intense – four full days of current research, data, up to date information on how to assist couples with pre-conception care, fertility, pregnancy and IVF.

Some people may think ‘isn’t it easy’? You do the horizontal hump and wahlaa’. For some, yes but for many it’s not that easy. Often as Naturopaths we see people after they’ve been trying for a while, some people have already started the IVF process without success, some are older and have time concerns. We would love to be people’s first port of call when planning a pregnancy – naturopaths have lots of knowledge and expertise to assist with making babies.

If the thought has crossed your mind about starting a family, then the best way is to start a four-month preconception plan. Four months I hear you groan, yes four months is the time it takes for new healthy sperm to generate and oocytes (eggs) to mature. And did you know, the time the egg and sperm first meet it makes the genetic make-up of your baby and it’s offspring for the next 3 generations! True. Then, that embryo relies on its own cellular nutrients for the first 9 weeks before the placenta starts feeding the fetus nutrients from the mum! Why not give your bub the best possible start in life?

My Top Tips on achieving Healthy Fertility

Cleanse - Completing a detox prior to starting gives you the best possible chance of conceiving. A cleanse supports both partners to ensure viable fertility; health of the egg, sperm and the uterus.

• Improve reproductive function
• Liver function
• GIT function
• Sperm; shape, motility, quality and quantity - it's the smallest cell in our bodies and therefore the most vulnerable
• Eggs; assists with healthy egg maturity
• Makes the uterus all soft and ready for implantation and 9 months of incubation

Diet – Foods should be fresh and organically grown, don’t overcook foods, stop using microwaves, eat seasonally. Basically ‘don’t eat anything your great grandma wouldn’t recognize as food'.

A diet full of:

• Protein – 4 serves a day; organic meats, seeds, nuts, ocean fish
• Healthy fats – fats balance hormones
• Dairy – good quality, full fat. Remove Soy; it’s highly synthesized, processed and is an endocrine disrupter!
• Beverages – remove alcohol & coffee, drink filtered water, stress relief teas

Lifestyle - there are many lifestyle choices that impact fertility, here are some for you to think about

• Weight –loose those extra kilos, you certainly don’t want to be shedding them whilst pregnant, those fat stores will be carrying harmful pollutants that will just hang around in your body & bloodstream!
• Avoid chemical exposure, detergents and cleaning products. We are surrounded by these nasties! Radiation - begin being mindful of carrying mobile phones on your body and stop using them as an alarm, even turn off your Wi-Fi at night! Stop smoking.
• Stress relief – continue to have fun while planning and making your baby, this is a happy time, take those weekends away and enjoy each other.

Afternoon Delight

We were in need of a yummy healthy afternoon snack so we made a smoothie.

Delicious and Nutritious.

Ingredients:

• Handful of frozen raspberries
• 1/2  a can of Coconut Milk
• 1 Banana
• Handful of almonds 
• Fill the rest with Full cream MILK

 

yummo - the boys loved it - sporting their Pink moustaches!

It's a great fill for an afternoon delight, easy, fun and yum.
What's your favourite smoothie recipe?

FIVE tips to WELLNESS over the Festive Season

I love the festive season it's great! We’re very lucky in Australia, it coincides with summer, it's warm, it's light, and it’s fun times. And with fun times come lots of social occasions with lots of eating and drinking! Here are some of my secret tips for you to have a successful and healthy festive season.

1. EAT: I know you all love food, and why not, after all it is the season to be jolly.

• Portion control is your friend, taste everything, why not – but just a taste, you’re not eating for 10 men!
• Make ‘healthy’ choices, avoid the deep fried option and go for the fresh sashimi instead
• At home, eat lots of fresh food, lots of vegetables and salads, remember my 3 handful rule
• Enjoy the warmth of the weather and eat lots of fish, steamed veg and salads of salad, drizzle olive oil
• Try a green juice – let me know your thoughts
• If you have indulged skip a meal and replace with a protein shake

2. DRINK: It’s inevitable at this time of year; even if you don’t drink you drink! Tips on the best way to combat drinking too much or feeling the effects of drinking:

• On arrival drink a glass of water, it hydrates your body and makes you feel better for it the next morning
• Alternate drinking a glass of water between each alcoholic drink
• Drink plenty of water during the day, it’s summer after all
• Drink organic herbal teas; make a jug of iced peppermint tea
• Even opt for soda water in a wine glass – it will definitely put you in the party mood
• If hung over try Dandelion tea to kick start that liver and aid in liver detox
• Wake up this season to a morning dose of warm water and a tsp. of Apple cider vinegar – you won’t know yourself

3. EXERCISE: Oh yes you can, it’s the perfect time of year because you have TIME

• Just 10 minutes of exercise will get you eating and feeling good for the rest of the day
• Try something new – a yoga or Pilates class, a jog, go swimming, even stretching
• Ride your bike to pick up the paper instead of driving
• Make that catch up with your mate a brisk walk instead of a coffee date

4. REST: Its also a perfect time of year to rest, take time for yourself and rejuvenate those batteries, repair yourself and clear your mind, it will make for an easier 2013. Step away from the family; be kind to yourself do something EVERYDAY for you.

• Write a journal
• Meditate
• Practice Stress relieving exercise
• Bike ride, Swim, Walk, Run
• Read a book

·     5. NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS: Be kind to yourself, start your resolutions before the 1st of Jan

• Make only a few, you then have a greater chance of sticking to them
• Think about your life and what you would want, what you want to change and how you can do that
• Think about your health and how you can continue to maintain it
• Even think of doing a January Detox, it can clear that emotional and physical stagnation that isn’t allowing you to move forward.

   I wish you all the very best in health this Festive season and wish for you to Welcome the New Year with a fresh, hydrated, energized YOU. Happy Holidays.