Is a Sunday morning really a Sunday morning without pikelets?

When I reminisce about some of my favourite Sunday mornings, they involve late mornings, lazy tunes, light rain and steaming hot pikelets with toppings galore! 

Over the years, I’ve experimented with healthy-fying my old pikelets recipe and I’ve finally come up with a gut-healing recipe I know you all will love...

Green Pikelets!  

Yes you read that correctly - green pikelets! Before you wrinkle your nose and squint your eyes at the word 'green' in front of 'pikelets', just trust me on this one. The green aspect of these pikelets take them to the next level.

As you know, I love trying to incorporate veggies into my diet as much as possible. This is why adding spinach, a brilliant green leaf and a great source of folate, iron, vitamins and minerals, is the perfect addition to any pikelet recipe.

I know how hard it can be to get the kids to finish their vegetables, let alone enjoy them, so my pikelets recipe is sure to be a winner for both you and the kids. Hooray!

Even the biggest sceptics won't be able to taste the difference with this recipe. I've trialled and tested it out on my family and even the fussiest one in our bunch loved them. They’re secretly healthy but let me tell you, they're so delicious that will be adored by all.

To make them extra creamy, I add almond milo the recipe but you can use any milk that you prefer for a good hit of calcium. Rice milk makes them extra sweet and creamy. 

Pikelets are great for Sunday mornings but really, can be enjoyed for any day at any time! They make for the perfect afternoon hit, busy breakfast, lazy lunch, mid-morning pick-me-up or decadent dessert.

The great thing about these delicious treats is that they can be eaten with savoury and sweet toppings. I say - go crazy!

I love having mine with eggs for a savoury protein hit in the morning. They can also be enjoyed with some of my lemon and blueberry ice-cream, nut butter, simple berries for an antioxidant hit or even on their own!

So what are you waiting for? Let's enjoy some fluffy green pikelets for breakfast this morning.

Green Pikelets

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of English spinach leaves
• ¼ cup chia seeds

• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 2 eggs
• 1 TBS smooth nut butter
• 2 tsps LYG powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cup almond milk or milk of choice
• good pinch of Celtic sea salt
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil, or butter for frying

Method:

Place all the ingredients, except the coconut oil or butter if using, into a food processor and combine until smooth.

Remove batter and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add half the oil.

Depending upon the size of the pikelets preferred, could just under ¼ cup mixture into the pan and cook for 5 minutes on one side, then flip over to do other side for about 3 minutes.

Place on a waiting plate and continue until all the batter is used.

Happy cooking!  Lee xo

Are you constantly on the look-out for deliciously healthy raw treat recipes, smoothie bowls to lust over, vegan Buddha bowls to chow down on and date-night dinner inspiration with edge to seriously impress?

Look no further!

The founder of the wonderful Hippie Lane, the beautiful Taline Gabriel, has debuted her first book Hippie Lane the Cookbook and it’s one not to be missed.  Taline uses whole, unprocessed and real ingredients that are super aesthetically pleasing, free of refined sugars, gluten-free and plant-based to create recipes that are nothing short of drool-worthy and instagram friendly.

Taline has included nourishing recipes for every occasion under the sun, including breakfasts bursting with flavour, delicious dinners, Sunday brunches, sweet fixes and easy lunches!

Growing up as a Nutella-obsessed junk foodie, Taline’s speciality is taking treats we used to love and making them with simple ingredients that are vegan, gluten-free and sugar-free.  They're so nutritious and you won’t need to worry about compromising on the taste side of things either.

You may have tried one of Taline’s delicious raw treats, like her Snickerz Bar (spoiler alert: they taste better than the real thing!) around different cafes in Sydney, but her savoury recipes prove to be just as mouth-watering. I’m still dreaming about her Green Goddess Bowl which is a green lover's paradise.

Hippie Lane the Cookbook, is so much more than a compilation of delicious recipes and a few healthy tips, Taline focuses on the power of food and the beauty of gathering loved ones together to celebrate a passion of wholesome cooking that can nourish the body, mind and soul.

The Green Goddess Bowl 

Images and recipes from Hippie Lane: The Cookbook by Taline Gabrielian (Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99).

Ingredients

serves 2   

VGN  DF  GF  RSF

Almost too yummy to be healthy, and the ultimate brunch, here is the perfect green bowl, fit for a goddess.

• 15 g (½ oz/½ cup) shredded kale
• 6 broccolini stems
• 10 green beans
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra
  to serve
• 1 heaped tablespoon Pesto (see below)
• 300 g (10½ oz/1½ cups) cooked quinoa
• juice of ½ lemon
• 45 g (1½ oz/1 cup) baby rocket (arugula) leaves
• 1 zucchini (courgette), shredded or spiralised
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped spring onion (scallion)
• a few basil leaves
• pinch of Himalayan salt
• pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 2 lemon wedges

Method

Fill a saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Have a bowl of iced water at the ready.

Add the kale to the boiling water and blanch for 30 seconds, then remove with tongs and refresh in the iced water, to stop it cooking further.

Add the broccolini to the boiling water. Leave to boil for 1 minute, or until just tender, then remove and add to the iced water.

Blanch the beans in the boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove and add to the iced water.

Drain the blanched vegetables, then chop the kale and beans and set aside.

Warm most of the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the pesto, spreading it over the pan. Stir in the kale. Add the remaining olive oil, then add the broccolini and beans, stirring briefly. Stir the quinoa and lemon juice through, then remove from the heat.

Divide the rocket and zucchini among two serving bowls. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil, then top with the pesto-tossed greens.

Top with the avocado, sunflower seeds, pepitas, spring onion and basil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper, add a lemon wedge to each bowl and enjoy.

Pesto

• 115 g (4 oz/¾ cup) pine nuts
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• ¾ cup basil leaves, loosely packed
• 25 g (1 oz/1 cup) rocket (arugula) leaves
• ½ teaspoon Himalayan salt, or to taste
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• juice of 1 lemon
• 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) mild-tasting olive oil

Place the pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until large crumbs form.

Add the garlic, basil, rocket, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Pulse until just combined. Add the olive oil and process until smooth. The pesto is best made just beforeserving, but will keep in the fridge for a day or two in an airtight container, covered with a layer of olive oil to stop the basil discolouring.

For more information about Taline, check out the Hippie Lane website and Taline's instagram.

For all my London and UK pals – this one’s especially for you!

Are you looking to lose weight, supercharge your energy and feel great?

I’ve got the solution!

I’m about to embark on my world book tour for Fast Your Way to Wellness where I’ll be speaking all things fasting, wholefoods and of course, getting my cooking on!

Intermittent fasting is something I live by and I can’t wait to share it with you!

My next stop (and one that I’m super excited about) is London where I’ll be returning to the beautiful Planet Organic store on the 22^nd of March at Westbourne Grove for a book launch and cooking demo.

The health benefits of intermittent fasting are powerful and potent so get ready to be seriously mind-blown! I’ll be answering all your questions about intermittent fasting – the what’s, the when’s, the why’s and the how to’s!

By reducing calories on two days per week, you can kick-start weight loss, rejuvenate the body’s systems, repair cells and restore vitality.

Not only will I be speaking about the benefits of fasting, I’ll also be whipping up one of my favourite recipes from Fast Your Way to Wellness– my scrumptious Veggie Nori Wraps!

I’ll be talking about lots of different low-calorie recipes that are simple, nutritious and delicious for those fasting days. If that doesn’t convince you enough, all of those who attend the event will receive a Planet Organic goodie bag! Hands up who’s in?

I’m so excited to meet you all there! So, come on down to Westbourne Grove for from 6:30-8pm on Wednesday the 22^nd of March. Go onto Planet Organic to find out more or register here now!

As much as the health world idolizes the beauty of eating poached eggs and greens for breakfast – sometimes we just can’t hold back from our morning sweet tooth! Sometimes fluffy muffins, crunchy cereals and chewy choc-chip cookies are calling your name and the last thing on your mind is eggs and kale?!

Instead of fighting cravings, let’s embrace them! Listening to your cravings is so important and can indicate a lot about what you’re needing both emotionally and physically and can help to highlight the foods that you may have become addicted to.

If you’re craving chocolate, it could mean you're magnesium deficient. Magnesium is available in fish, dark leafy greens and nuts. Craving sweet foods like pastries, white bread and pasta may mean that you're chromium deficient. Chromium can be found in oats, sweet potatoes and eggs.

Thinking about cravings rationally and listening to them can help us lead healthier and happier lives.  So instead of ignoring cravings, why not just make healthier choices and fill up with healthy versions of favorite foods?

I'd love to introduce you to my new delicious No More Muffin Top Muffin recipe and I’ve made sure that they'll not only improve your gut health and waistline but also fill your daily ‘eggs and greens’ quota!

If you’re not already on the healthified sweets train, these muffins will make you jump on board! Forget the traditional, sugar-filled, gluten-packed muffins and swap to a new world of healthy, refined-sugar free and absolutely tasty muffins. There are no strange ingredients here – just healthy wholesome baking ingredients.

Who could pass up the chance to start the day with fluffy, yummy muffins? The chromium-packed eggs and vitamin-filled zucchini makes sure these beautiful muffins stay moist, while my Love Your Gut powder (a raw vegan plant based whole food) ensures that you're getting good gut-healing straight off the bat.

My Love Your Gut powder is high in absorbable iron which helps to support tiredness and fatigue and it doesn't leave you constipated like traditional synthetic iron supplements do. That way you can get your necessary iron via real plant based foody-goodness.

Magnesium-packed almond-meal is a delicious gluten-free flour that is great for baking so I threw it into the mix too. This recipe also contains a touch of butter, which contains healthy saturated fats and fat-soluble vitamins. Butter helps these baked treats stay fluffy and keep their texture. Yum!

So, make up a batch and let me know what you think? They freeze well too!

No More Muffin Top Muffins

Makes 6 large or 12 small muffins

Make these the day before and then just warm them in the oven for 10 minutes before enjoying. They're surprising filling and full of veggie goodness.  Take them as a snack to work too.

• 11/2 cups) almond meal
• 1/2 cup) toasted walnuts
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• 1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 
1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp stevia powder
• 1 tbs LYG powder
• 11/2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup additive-free coconut milk
• 1/4 cup melted butter

Place zucchini in a sieve over a bowl and sprinkle with a little salt and let sit.

Line a muffin tray with muffin liners and preheat oven to 180°C

In a medium bowl, place all the dry ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon

With your hands, very tightly squeeze the zucchini to remove any excess moisture.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, coconut milk and butter together. Fold the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and then very gently stir in the zucchini.

With a spoon, carefully spoon mixture into the muffin tray liners  and place into the oven for 45 minutes until cooked through- you can test with a skewer.

Let cool on a wire rack.  These can be kept in the fridge for 4 days in a sealed container.

Lee xo

Fellow Cookie Monsters - This one's for you!

Do you ever remember as a child coming home after school to the smell of freshly baked cookies wafting through the house? That feeling when you're floating on clouds and happy at the thought of eating cookies? A feeling that lasted the whole afternoon. Or perhaps it's the childhood memory of a burnt finger with the excitement of releasing your inner-cookie monster and gobbling down a few delicious bites? Or fighting with a sibling over who was going to get the last one?

I'm sure you'll all agree that here's nothing quite as wistfully wonderful and terrifically tasty as cookies that have just been airlifted out of the oven. 

That's why I wanted to create a new kind of cookie- a healthier version 2017 style! Not only are they the perfect cookie to have with your afternoon tea, they’re a great balance of equally chewy yet crunchy; a combination any cookie connoisseur will understand.  These will leave everyone in the household smiling because of that delightfully homey and oh so nostalgic: we-just-baked-delicious-cookies smell. If that doesn't make for a nostalgically good cookie, I don't know what will! 

Different from your regular sugar-laden, gluten-filled, artificially coloured cookies, mine are all the frees and tummy friendly. The main two ingredients are banana and quinoa and they make for a tasty, yet unlikely duo.

I have combined the magical power of protein-packed quinoa with comforting coconut flour to make these cookies gluten-free and because I'm all about gut health, I've added a sprinkle of my magical Love Your Gut Powder! Just a little bit of LYG powder can really go a long way. Sneaking it into treats, like these cookies, is a great way to give your gut a nice boost without ever having to think about it! I’ve done the all the hard work for you, I'm nice like that 😉

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In my life, I like to embrace nature in everything whenever and wherever possible. I enjoy my food clean and from the earth and I like the people I surround myself with to be real and honest. There’s no reason why I would want the beauty products I use be to be any different.

Unfortunately, many products that label themselves as natural are not as ‘natural’, ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘organic’ as they want you to believe.

As there is no governing standard in Australia that brands have to meet to call themselves natural, brands can do two things without breaching Consumer Laws. Firstly, companies can use words such as ‘naturally inspired’ to lead consumers into thinking that their products are natural when that is not the case.

They can also use words, like ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘botanical’ so that the consumer believes they are natural, when in fact they’re not. They can also include ingredients in products that aren’t truly natural – in a ‘fake natural’ product, it’s often you might see a natural oil listed next to a mineral oil.

This lack of governing standard means there’s lots of confusion amongst those seeking out truly natural products, and an even greater need to be vigilant to know what phrases and ingredients to look out for and which ones to avoid.

It’s unclear if this level of regulation is likely to change in the future, however if people continue to voice their concerns about misleading labels then hopefully we can see some change.

Often, companies will mask unnatural products by throwing them next to a natural one in the label so it can get really confusing when searching for truly natural skincare. It’s my mission to encourage and provide you with information about how to read a label and understand what is best to avoid so that you can be on your way to becoming a naturally glowing version of yourself.

Natural, to me, means both the product’s activities and its formulations are plant-derived ingredients. I define fake naturals as products that call themselves natural but aren’t truly natural. Products that contain fake naturals can cause serious skin issues such as allergic reactions, dermatitis, skin sensitivities and blocked pores.

While these may not seem so serious to the average person, what we put into our skin is absorbed into the blood and then the rest of our body! There’s never been a more important time to take care of your skin and be aware of what you’re applying onto it.

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