By Lee Holmes from Supercharged Food (This recipe is from her new book Eat Right for your Shape)

Lee has adapted the traditional Baji recipe to make it more suitable for the fiery types:

“The absence of spicy heat makes it the perfect snack to balance out the Pitta dosha which is commonly fiery and ‘hot’ in its inherent characteristics of competitiveness, irritability, and the physical symptoms of skin rashes, inflammation and hypertension when in an unbalanced state.

My version will also be seen majoring on the superstar ingredient; broccoli. Broccoli is an excellent source of vitamin C, folate, vitamin K and chromium. It’s also high in fibre to aid in detoxifying the digestive system. As broccoli contains subtle bitter qualities that mimic the energy of air and ether; the effect on the fiery pitter is one of lightening, refreshment, toxin removal and cleansing.

The combination of the chickpea flour and brown rice flour makes a coating of complete protein; transforming it into a snack that’ll fill and satisfy your hunger for longer, as well as stabilising blood glucose levels. “

Broccoli Baji

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 300 g (10½ oz/2½ cups) besan (chickpea) flour
• 2 tablespoons brown rice flour
• pinch of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• Himalayan salt, to taste
• 500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) filtered water
• extra virgin coconut oil, for shallow-frying
• 120 g (4¼ oz/2 cups) broccoli florets

Chia jam and Carrot and beetroot raita, to serve (recipes below)

Method

• Sift the flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a medium bowl. Gradually add the water, stirring well to avoid lumps.
• The mixture should have a smooth, paste-like consistency.
• Heat some coconut oil (about 4 cm/1½ inches deep) in a medium, heavy-based saucepan over medium–high heat. Once the oil is hot (a small broccoli floret should sizzle and float), working in batches, dip the broccoli florets in the batter to coat well.
• Drop into the pan and cook until crisp on all sides. Lay on paper towel to drain off any excess oil while you cook the next batch.

Chia Jam

Serves 4

This natural, sugar-free jam suits all doshas. Fruit jams are delicious, but obtaining the desired consistency and firmness usually requires a large quantity of white sugar. This recipe uses chia seeds to create a perfect consistency, and rice malt syrup to add sweetness to the apple and berries. Delicious on its own, it can be used as a topping for pancakes – or a dollop added to the mixing bowl will sweeten up cakes, and a spoonful added to the pan will highlight curries.

Ingredients

• 1 apple, cored and grated
• 125 g (4½ oz/1 cup) mixed berries
• 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) filtered water
• 90–120 g (3¼–4¼ oz/¼–1⁄3 cup) rice malt syrup, to taste
• 35 g (1¼ oz/¼ cup) chia seeds

Method

• Combine the apple, berries, water and rice malt syrup in a small, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil.
• Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the consistency is thick.
• Remove from the heat, stir through the chia seeds and transfer to a sterilised jar.
• The jam will keep in the fridge for 5 days.

Carrot and Beetroot Raita

Serves 3–4

• 520 g (1 lb 2½ oz/2 cups) sheep’s milk yoghurt (use greek style coconut yoghurt if vegan)
• 1 raw beetroot (beet), peeled and grated
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 small capsicum (pepper), finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• Himalayan salt, to taste

Method

• Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl by mixing gently with a spoon.
• The raita will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3–4 days.

The post Broccoli Baji recipe appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

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This is a bit of a different style to the previous podcast/videos I’ve done which talk about conditions and naturopathy. In this episode Laura Burton and I talk about our favourite ‘health food’ items and discuss how we use them and what their benefits are. There are links to the items we mentioned in the podcast breakdown below.

But the most exciting bit about this video is that there’s a GIVEAWAY! The good folks at Loving Earth and the Gingerbread Folk have been particularly generous in donating some items for the giveaway, and Laura and I have chipped in a few goodies as well. Find the link to enter below.

Want to subscribe to get podcasts automatically? You can do that here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/health-wellbeing-podcast/id1006574743

Laura is a clinical naturopath practicing in St Leonards and Dural. Her key areas of interest are female hormone disorders, digestive health, stress & adrenal fatigue. Through her clinical experience Laura has identified the prevalence of stress in our everyday lives and sees it as the most common cause or exacerbating factor of her patients health conditions. Laura believes that we need to get back to basics and work on our ability to release and manage stress in order to prevent and treat disease.

Last year Laura set herself the mission to reach beyond the walls of her clinics and send her de-stress message out to Australian and New Zealand households through the Burton Health Tea Club. Each month she sends love letters and tea packages to her members to inject joy and excitement into their days and to remind them to slow down, relax and reconnect while sipping on a cup of organic herbal tea.

You can connect with Laura via her website www.burtonhealth.com.au, on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.

If you’ve got something nice to say about the podcasts please leave a review on iTunes, but I’m also keen for any constructive feedback if you want to comment below!

Podcast Breakdown

2.00 Our favourite snacks

2.10 Nut Butter on brown rice crackers (Deli Grains with black sesame)

4.00 Pic’s Really Good Peanut Butter

4.20 Seaweed – Sea Shanti Sea Crisps and Sea Flakes

5.46 Bounce Balls

6.55 Miso Soup

8.07 Gluten free ginger bread – Gingerbread Folk

9.00 Crudites and dip (here are my recipes for guacamole and Baba Hummus)

9.25 Condiments

9.32 Ghee

10.22 Seaweed Salt 

11.23 Savoury Yeast Flakes

12.15 Honey

13.10 Maca Powder

14.11 Apple Cider Vinegar – try to get a brand that contains the ‘mother’ for probiotic content such as Melrose and/or Bragg

16.05 Saurkraut – Peace Love Vegetables or Kehoe’s

17.20 Coconut Oil – Melrose, Loving Earth, Coconut Magic

18.30 Great Lakes Gelatin (read more about gelatin here) Aussies can buy it here, but it’s also available on iherb here.

20.00 Jarred tomatoes – Blis, and BPA free tinned tomatoes from Global Organics

22.00 Achieving balance with the more expensive but ‘healthier’ options

23.53 Caramelised Buckinis – Loving Earth

24.35 Chia Seeds – The Chia Co

27.18 Sardines – Fish 4 Ever and Wild Planet

29.27 Raw cacao – Power Super Foods, Loving Earth

29.54 Cacao nibs – Loving Earth

31.06 Coconut sugar – Loving Earth

32.30 Our favourite drinks

32.40 Kombucha – Mojo, Tonicka, Remedy or make your own! (recipe coming soon)

35.08 Burton Health Tea – Shop Here

35.40 Coconut Water – Pure Natural Raw C

37.10 Keep Cup

38.10 Burton Health Tea Club –  Click here to learn more

40.34 GIVEAWAY!!! – Click here to learn more and to enter

The post Our Favourite Health Foods (PLUS A GIVEAWAY) – with guest Laura Burton appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

I love my dehydrator, and in summer I seem to have it running almost every second day. I like to make all sorts of snacks in it like jerky, kale chips, dried fruit and even good old fruit leather (I loved roll ups as a kid).

Store bought dried fruit often has sulphur added to preserve it and retain the colouring (especially so for apricots) which can flare up the symptoms of asthma and other allergies. Making it yourself is easy, affordable and satisfying.

These are some of my favourite things to make with the dehydrator, if you don’t have one at home you can use the oven at really low setting and it will usually turn out just as well.

Dried fruit

SO simple to do, all you need to do is to cut the fruit into bite sized pieces and lay them out on the trays, then dehydrate at the lowest setting for a few hours or until dry. They will keep for a month or so in an airtight container, if they don’t get eaten before then that is! 

Fruit leather

In a blender blitz the washed and diced fruit until it forms a paste. If you wish you can add a little water, sugar or lemon juice to thin it if if it particularly thick. If using fruits like plum, apple or pear you may need to cook them down a little first.

Line the dehydrator trays with baking paper (allowing a gap at the outside for air to move through) and pour on the paste, spreading into a thin layer. You could sprinkle with chia seeds at this stage to add a bit of extra crunch.

Dehydrate at the lowest setting for 4 hours or until it turns into the right texture (it may need longer but you don’t want it to dry out too much so check it every hour after 4 hrs).

Flavour ideas:

• Strawberry
• Strawberry and Peach
• Raspberry and Peach
• Blueberries and Pear
• Blueberries and Goji
• Banana and strawberry
• Banana and Peach
• Plums
• Green apple, cinnamon and baby spinach
• Apricot, honey and lemon

Kale chips

You can make these in the oven, but it’s also super simply to make these in the dehydrator. Just cut or tear the kale leaves into bite sized pieces and lay out on the trays. You can sprinkle with a little salt or spice. If you want to get fancy with oil based flavourings these may be best done in the oven.

‘Cheesy’ Capsicum and cashew kale chips

• ½ red capsicum (finely chopped)
• ½ cup nutritional yeast
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight
• Pinch of garlic powder, cumin, smokey paprika, cayenne (optional)
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 bunch kale (the curly leafed version is best)

In a small blender whiz up a handful of pre-soaked cashews, half a capsicum (finely chopped), lemon juice, nutritional yeast, the spices, salt and pepper. Blitz together until it forms a paste, adding a little water if needed to make it blend more easily.

Wash and dry the kale and spread the paste onto the leaves, trying to get it evenly distributed. It probably won’t stick to it perfectly, so you’ll need to pat some extra on once you’ve laid them out.

Spread the kale leaves onto the dehydrator trays and leave to dehydrate at 45C for a few hours or until crispy. Alternatively you can lay them on a tray and bake in the oven at a low heat for 40-50 minutes.

The post Dehydrator Fun appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Dehydrated Kale leaves, aka Kale Chips are all the craze at the moment. If you haven’t tried them then I wouldn’t blame you for thinking they are an overrated hippy fad food – and I’m not saying they’re comparable to your normal potato chips, but if you’re looking for something you can munch on guilt free, Kale Chips are an awesome snack in their own right. Healthy, crispy and moreish, capable of carrying a big variety of flavours, Kale Chips are a winner in my eyes.

Using nutritional yeast in the coating provides a cheese-like flavour, and the cashews provide an extra level of crunchiness.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of kale leaves, stems removed, washed and cut into medium sized pieces.
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours.
• 1/4 capsicum (any colour is fine, I used red)
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes or 1/4 tsp chilli powder/cayenne
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

Drain the cashews, reserving some of the water

Blend the ingredients in a food processor until smooth, adding a little of the water if it’s not blending smoothly enough

Coat the kale leaves with the cashew mixture as evenly as you can, then lay onto the dehydrator trays, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Dehydrate at 45°C for 2-4 hours until dry.

The post ‘Cheesy’ Chilli Kale Chips appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Ingredients

• Rice paper sheets
• Vermicelli noodles
• Fresh mint
• 1 large green or red chilli
• Cucumber
• 2 radishes
• Spring onions
• Raw peanuts that you can roast and crush yourself (which i did because I forgot to buy crushed peanuts) or you can actually buy Crushed roasted peanuts
• Marinade: (You can marinade your tempeh in whatever combination you like, but this is roughly what I used [sorry I don’t have measurements, I never tend to measure marinades or dressings]). Mirin, Light and Dark Soy Sauce, Olive Oil, Sesame Oil, Rice vinegar and Lime Juice.
• Dipping sauce: Sweet chilli sauce and soy sauce

Method

1. Slice your tempeh into strips and marinade in the fridge for about an hour or even overnight if you can.  I did it for 30 minutes and it still tasted good.  Cook until browned on both sides then set aside to cool.

2. Because I only had raw peanuts in the cupboard, I took the skins off and roasted them until golden brown and then bashed them up in a mortar and pestle. If you’re planning ahead you could probably buy them already prepared, but they might not taste as fresh, and roasting them yourself eliminates any possible mould that can potentially grow on already roasted peanuts.

3. Cook your noodles as per packet instructions.  Make sure you drain them thoroughly.

4.  Cut up all your vegies (as shown in the picture) and lay them out on a platter for easy access.   You can use different vegies if you would like, such as carrot, capsicum, asparagus, bean sprouts…

5.  In a bowl of hot (not boiling) dip your rice paper sheets in until quite soft. They will further soften once wrapped. You don’t want to leave them in the water too long, or have the water too hot otherwise they will tear or become gloopy.

6.  Lay your softened rice paper sheets out on a board.  Lay some mint down (I like doing this to make it look pretty).

7.  Put the rest of your ingredients down.

 
8. Start rolling by folding the bottom of the rice paper sheet up, then fold in the edges, then roll all the way up.

9.  Tada!  Put all the rice paper rolls that you’ve made on a platter with some dipping sauce, and enjoy!

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Recently I asked a question on my Facebook page:  What is the hardest meal for you to eat healthy? The overwhelming majority of people said: Snacks!  Even though when I review diet diaries and see that it’s the snacks that tend to sabotage a good day’s eating this still surprised me, I guess because I’m generally not much of a snacker.  So I had a think about why this is such a hard meal to eat healthy:

• Snacking is often mindless – you grab something to snack on without thinking about it, and it’s only after it’s in your belly that you say ‘oh… whoops’.
• Cravings, especially sugar cravings make you reach for the chocolate bar or sweet biscuit over the vegetables.
• It’s easier to justify snacking on junk food because you’re eating it in smaller portions.
• Foods packaged as ‘healthy’ snacks are often crammed full of sugar and preservatives, and unless you’ve studied nutrition it can be difficult to analyze labels and know what products are lying to you.  A common example is the myriad of supposedly healthy ‘low fat’ snacks available which are teeming with refined sugar.
• Snack choices are often controlled by our emotions.  If you’re doing some serious emotional eating, then snacking is probably happening more often than morning an afternoon tea as well, so quantity becomes an issue here too.
• Boredom makes you eat more.  Watching mindless TV shows is often accompanied by binge snacking.
• You realize that your blood sugar level has dropped so you think you need something sugary to pick it back up again.  Yes, something sugary will get you out of a slump but it will then send your blood sugars on a rollercoaster of highs and lows, meaning that you keep chasing them all day.
• You’re really hungry and you don’t care what you eat as long as it’s now!  This usually happens if you’re not prepared or haven’t eaten a good breakfast.
• That chocolate bar looks so good….

Ok, wow.  It seems that there’s a lot of reasons why snacking is hard to get right.

If you take some steps to plan ahead for the day and understand where your snacking weaknesses lie, it can be easier to make good choices, and you’ll feel and look much better for it.

There’s nothing wrong with snacking.  Having a small bite to eat between meals is a great way to give your metabolism a little kick and keep you from becoming ravenously hungry later, which can lead to overeating.  Snacking is also fun and tasty, helps you to regain focus and concentration and can be a great way to socialize.

But there is a difference between snacking and compulsive, emotional or hormonal eating. There is also a difference between snacking and bingeing.

Snacking Strategies

• Eat a good breakfast.  This will help you keep your blood sugar levels balanced throughout the day to reduce cravings from dropping blood sugar levels.  Aim to eat a balance of protein, good fats and complex carbohydrates.  An example is muesli with yoghurt (not low fat) and berries.
• Instead of saying “I won’t eat biscuits/lollies/chocolate today”, make your goal a positive one, such as “I will eat 2 pieces of fruit today” or “I will eat 5 green things today”.  Research has shown that if you focus on avoiding a food, you’re more likely to eat less healthy.
• Identify your snacking weaknesses and think of a strategy to avoid it.  Do you eat unhealthy snacks because it’s on the bench at work?  Keep your healthy snack food on your desk so that you can see it and remember your goal.  Do you eat when you’re bored?  Take up a hobby (e.g. knitting) which you could also do in front of the TV.
• Get organised. Part of the reason our snacking habits wreak such dietary havoc is that we make our choices haphazardly, leaving us highly susceptible to whims.  Instead, plan your snacking into your day: decide in advance what you’re going to eat, and set up a plan as to how you’re going to make it happen.  Look at the list of snacks below.  You’ll find many are suitable to keep in your handbag or desk drawer, so they’re available when you need them. That way, when stress strikes, you’ll have something healthy on hand to counter the urge to indulge in something fatty or sugary.
• Keep temptation out of reach.  If you know that you have difficulty resisting certain snacks, keep them out of the house! You’re less likely to eat chocolate at 10 o’clock at night if you have to get in the car and go to the shops to get it.
• Choose high fibre and protein.  A nutrient-dense snack keeps you satisfied for longer, so you’re less likely to over-eat later in the day. Your best choices are snacks that are high in protein and/or fibre. Compared to those that are fatty or sugary, these snacks also improve your glucose and insulin balance throughout the day. Include a few serves of whole grains in your main meals every day for the same reasons – they’ll help you feel full, and improve your insulin sensitivity.
• Think about what you’re eating.  The worst culprit for mindless eating is the TV.  When you eat in front of the TV your brain is less able to recognise that you are full, and you don’t digest your food as well.  There’s a time lag of up to 20 minutes between your tummy becoming full and your brain realising that it’s had enough food. The faster you eat, the more calories you guzzle down before that signal gets through.
• Turn the TV off.  The more you watch TV, the more you’re likely to snack, and the less likely you are to realise when you’re full.  Plus more viewing exposes you to more advertising, and guess what?  That makes you more likely to buy and eat junk food.  Research shows that vividly recalling your last meal helps to decrease your food intake later. That’s one of the reasons that eating while watching TV increases subsequent snacking – if you’re too distracted to pay attention to what you’ve been eating, it’s almost like it never happened. Mindless eating, such as in front of the TV contributes to an enormous number of weight problems and has even been documented in preschool-aged children.  It’s scientifically proven that the transfixing effects of television make you eat more. In part, the distraction of the TV dampens your brain’s ability to register that you’re full, so you just keep on putting food in your mouth. However, the calorie promoting effects persist even after you’ve turned the telly off. For example, when offered a snack of cookies in the afternoon, women who had watched television while eating their lunch ate more than women who had eaten their previous meal without TV.
• Aim for adaptability.  Be flexible. Life is for living, so if you really do feel like hot chips occasionally, don’t deprive yourself. You’ve got a better chance of maintaining healthier snacking habits if you allow yourself a little indulgence now and then!

Some snack options

• ¼  cup almonds and piece of fruit
• Natural yoghurt and a piece of fruit
• Natural yoghurt with grated apple and pecans
• Cottage cheese + tuna with a raw veggie serve
• 1 piece of fruit + 1 hard boiled egg
• Hard cheese (matchbox size) with a piece of fruit
• Miso soup
• Muesli bar
• Trail Mix
• 1/2 raw veggie serving and hummus or baba hummus
• 1/2 raw veggie serving and cottage cheese

Whenever veggies are mentioned, choose from:

• 2 medium carrots (can be sticks, grated or whole)
• 1 cup green beans
• 1 cup red or green cabbage
• 1 cup broccoli
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 asparagus spears
• 1 cup cauliflower

Whenever a fruit is mentioned, choose from:

• 1 apple
• 1 pear
• 2 small plums
• ½ grapefruit
• 1 orange
• 1 kiwi fruit
• 1 fig
• 2 small clementines/mandarins
• 1 ¼ cup strawberries
• 2/3 cup blueberries, raspberries or blackberries
• 1 peach

The post Snacks appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup goji berry and raw cocoa nib mix (I use Power foods which is sold in organic and health food shops)
• ¾ cup mixed seeds; Sunflower and pumpkin
• ¾ cup raw almonds
• ½ cup brazil, hazel or walnuts

Method

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

Tips

Trail mix is super easy to make yourself, and by making it yourself you can control the amounts of ingredients. 

Trail mix is great to have before exercise.

Cocoa nibs are rich in magnesium and free from the sugar and dairy convential chocolate chips in retail trail mixes contain.  They are bitter, but this is evened out by the goji berries.  The magnesium is great for healthy mood and reduces cramps after exercise.

Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds are rich in zinc and protein, making them great for immunity and a healthy mood.

Feel free to change the ingredients if you wish, but try not to add too much dried fruit (too high in sugar) and if you do, but it organic or un-sulphured (as this can can allergies and asthma). 
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Ingredients

• 1 eggplant
• 3 tablespoons tahini (sesame-seed paste, preferably unhulled)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon chilli powder
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Smoke paprika

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C.

2. Roast eggplant (whole) in oven for 30 minutes or until tender.

3. Let eggplant cool, then peel the skin and put it into a food processer.

4.  Add remaining ingredients, withholding oil and paprika.

5.  Blend until you get a consistency that you like, drizzling in a little oil to make it a bit creamier if you want.

6.  Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika.  Pretty and yum!

Tips

Make sure you check the flavouring of this before you finish, because the size of the eggplant can affect the ratios. 

The addition of the eggplant helps to give this a bit more fibre.

You can add more cumin and lemon if you wish!

Serve with a variety of vegies to dip into it.  2-3 tbsp of this dip with some vegies (such as carrot sticks, celery, capsium, cucumber, asparagus spears) is a great snack that’s rich in protein and fibre.
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The post Baba Hummus appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Ingredients

• ½ cup brown rice syrup
• 2 tbsp coconut oil or unsalted butter
• ¼ cup almond butter or organic peanut butter
• 1 cup corn flakes
• 1 cup rolled oats (large oat flakes)
• ¾ dried fruit (raisins, chopped dates, apricots)
• ¼ cup sunflower, pumpkin, or sesame seeds
• ¼ cup chopped almonds

Method

1. Roughly chop up your mixed fruit and mix with the seeds in a bowl.

2.  Add almonds, oats and corn flakes and stir.

3.  Gently  heat syrup, coconut oil or butter, and almond butter in a large sized saucepan until melted.  Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients quickly.

4. Turn out into an 8 inch x 8 inch pan and press down with the back of a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour and then cut into 2 inch by 1 inch bars.

Tips

This recipe is a real winner.  Make a double batch and freeze. 

These should be kept in the fridge.
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