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Even though Christmas has just passed, I have an idea for a thoughtful gift that you can make at home. My recent trip to New York inspired the idea when I ate it for breakfast nearly every morning. I took inspiration from a few recipes on the internet and found the best combination of ingredients.

You can make this a healthier version by cutting back on the amount of sugar you decide to use, I’ve already modified the recipe since making it by taking out the caster sugar. Perfect for mornings when you want to eat a healthy breakfast that is also easy to prepare!

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Ingredients

♥ Vegetable cooking spray
♥ 4 cups old fashioned oats (organic if possible)
♥ 1 cup sliced almonds
♥ 1 cup dried cranberries
♥ 1/2 cup golden brown sugar, packed
♥ 1/4 teaspoon salt
♥ 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
♥ 1/3 cup vegetable oil
♥ 1/4 cup honey (manuka if possible)
♥ 4 teaspoons vanilla extract

♥

Cooking Instructions

1. Position oven rack to the middle and preheat to 300 degrees.
2. Lightly spray large baking sheet with non stick spray.
3. Mix oats, almonds, salt, ground cinnamon in a large bowl.
4. Combine oil, honey and brown sugar in a small saucepan; bring to simmer over medium heat.
5. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
6. Pour hot liquid over oat mixture; stir well.
Ingredients
7. Using hands, toss mixture until thoroughly mixed.
8. Spread granola on prepared baking sheet.
9. Bake until golden brown, stirring occasionally, for about 15 mins (the last 5 mins you want to add the cranberries to cook them in the mixture without burning them)
10. Transfer sheet to rack, cool granola completely.

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After making the granola mixture I use a recycled jar and pour the clusters in, decorating it with brown string and a cute tag from Kikki K! Voila, perfect gift for a gorgeous friend.

What do you think of this recipe? Would you like to receive it from a friend?

Review by Kelly-Anne, graphic designer and cute cook.

Be well,

xoxo

I used to think that having a large meal for breakfast would give me the most energy for an enthusiastic and energetic day, but for the last 2 years or so my breakfast has pretty much always been a smoothie. I feel lighter, more focused and full of calm vitality rather than bogged down looking for that caffeine kick which I used to.

If my body isn’t working hard to digest a big, dense meal, then that energy can be put towards living an amazing life. The amount of vitamins and minerals, good quality omega 3 fats, easily absorbable sprouted proteins and just enough low glycemic index carbs in this smoothie keeps me full, yet light and energetic for hours.

I’m not saying I don’t like a delicious meal. I love to eat! But after playing with different ways to start the day, this definitely works best for me. Imagine trying to get all of this goodness in solid food form as you get ready for work in the morning! It would be like having a huge bowl of greens, a hand full of olives, a whole bunch of sprouted seeds and nuts, mushrooms, herbs etc. If you down this smoothie all that goodness is straight into your system.

♥ Stu’s Smoothie

The recipe!

♥ However big you want your smoothie, put that much water in the blender.
♥ A serving of Sunwarrior protein which I get at Prana Healthfoods

Or

♥ A serving of Garden of Life Raw Protein
♥ 1 teaspoon of Spirulina and 1 teaspoon of Chlorella, both which I get at Prana or Organic on Charles.
♥ About 1 teaspoon of Himalayan Crystal Salt, which I get at Prana.
♥ 1 teaspoon of maca root
♥ 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper if you like a little kick.
** ♥ ½ teaspoon of ashwagandha
** ♥ ½ teaspoon of triphala
** ♥ 1 teaspoon of reishi mushrooms, all of which I often get directly from India or from https://herbsupplies.com.au/ or http://www.indiaabundance.com

** With these herbs, do your research or see an ayurvedic practitioner and/or naturopath to find out if these herbs are suited to you. Every body is different. As for the rest of the herbs they’re suited to most people.

Blend all of this up and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil or coconut oil and 1 tablespoon of either agave nectar or honey for sweetness and if you want extra thickness and carbs add a banana.

Next step; enjoy!

Stu’s smoothie will give you enough energy for THIS!

Stuart is a yoga teacher and holistic life coach based in Perth, Western Australia. He is known for his unique, heart-felt self expression and inspirational style of teaching. Stuart’s classes incorporate Vinyasa Flow Asana and Akhanda Yoga with most of the emphasis being on transformation and healing.

He teaches with raw yet compassionate honesty which helps his students and clients bring the qualities practiced on the mat into daily life. 

The combination of the ancient wisdom of yoga coupled with Western approaches to wellness, such as life coaching and fitness training has allowed Stuart to form a highly effective and unique approach to wellness and to life itself.

Pics by http://nkphotographyblog.com/

What do you think of this super smoothie?

Be well,

xoxo

♥

just whipped up this beautifully yummy, fresh and light summer quinoa salad – it’s full of nutrients and is also quite filling! It’s also super quick and easy!

Ingredients

1 x cup dry quinoa
1 x cup diced cucumber
1 x diced medium sized tomato
1/2 x diced apple
1 x tbsp pepitas
1 x tbsp sultanas
sprinkling of sesame seeds
sprinkling of dried cranberries

Cook the quinoa as per the instructions on the pack (I like to use a rice cooker as it’s very simple and I can do other things while it’s doing -its- thing). Add in the pepitas & sultanas at the very beginning so they plump up.

Once cooked, leave to cool and mix in all the other ingredients. Serve, eat and enjoy.

The best thing about this quinoa salad is that you can make it with whatever’s on hand at the time that you need to use up and the quinoa provides a perfect healthy base. It is also packed with nutrients to give you sustained energy and plenty of vitamins and minerals.

Some other ideas to add in are:

♥ Sweet potato
♥ Cashews/almonds
♥ Pieces of orange
♥ Celery
♥ Absolutely anything you want!

Hope you like it, please share your recipes below, bon appetit

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

♥ Photo by wheresthebeef?

When I knew I was going to Melbourne I started researching raw restaurants, vegan restaurants and vegetarian places.

I was surprised to find that since I left there two years ago the raw food revolution hasn’t taken over, it’s barely crept in, or maybe I was looking in all the wrong places.

In saying that I must tell you right now before I explode – Yong Green Food surpassed all my expectations – it was fabulous!

My daughter and I arrived at about 8:30 on a Friday night and as we approached the restaurant we saw a huge group of people out the front, “Surely they’re not waiting to go in” I said to Candice. I haven’t had to line up for a very long time to get in somewhere and I wasn’t too thrilled about the prospect of lining up for food.
But they were.

So, the deal is no reservations, you turn up, go into the restaurant write your name and number down in the book by the drink cabinet and wait to be called.
The issue was there were five names before ours and we were starving!

Sadly by this stage we’d read the menu which looked absolutely fabulous so now we couldn’t go anywhere else.

♥

25 minutes later and it was our turn. The only issue then was how to decide what to eat. We wanted everything on the menu, followed by another serving of each.

♥ Nacho’s with chia chips

Lentil Hot Pot

Grilled Kingfish

We knew that we would be coming back at least one more time before I returned to Perth so we decided on the Raw Nachos – chia chips with cashew sour cream, guacamole and chili as an entree to share. Candice had the Lentil Hot Pot for main while I chose the Grilled King Fish.

The nachos were amazing, the chia chips were light, crisp and divine. Candice did say that she preferred my sour cream (there’s a girl who knows which side her bread’s buttered), but agreed that it was the best guacamole she’s ever tasted.

The Lentil Hot Pot was perfect, it was a bit of a chilly night in Melbourne (surprise, surprise) and the warmth of the dish was a perfect fit.

The Grilled King Fish was lovely too, and if I hadn’t tasted the Lentil Hot Pot first I would have been in heaven, ah the joys of coveting thy neighbours food.

Surprisingly neither of us had room for dessert so we left it at that.

The service was wonderful, our waitress was full of smiles, tips and advice. And we were planning our next meal before we even walked out the door.

The next time you’re in Melbourne you must drop into Yong Green Food and then go down the road to Neo Tokyo where you can pick up your new vegan handbag.

Service: 5 stars
Food: 5 stars
Price: 5 stars

Win win win!

Note: We went back there Saturday night and then again Tuesday night (only because we were in Ocean Grove Sun and Mon) and the food was even better!

Girl crush alert! Ruby Rose was at the table next to us on Saturday night. How gorgeous is she!

In the comment box below I’d love to know anywhere in Perth that serves Raw Vegan food, or just good old-fashioned vegetarian.

Yong’s Green Food
Address: 421 Brunswick Street Fitzroy
Phone: (03) 9417 3338