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My once loved white sugar substitute agave has been receiving quite a bit of negative press recently (mostly because of its 90% fructose level). Confused and left doubting agaves’ previously praised heath benefits, I embarked on a mission to find a healthier and less controversial sweetener alternative. The search led me to the discovery of my ‘sweet’ little new friend, coconut sugar!

What it is:

Coconut sugar is drawn from the sap of the coconut
 palm tree buds. It is similar in taste and color to brown sugar, with a slight caramel flavor.

Health Benefits:

Coconut sugar contains less than 9 percent fructose. It has a considerably lower glycemic index (35) than agave (42), honey (55), and cane sugar (68), thus helping to stabilize glucose levels. Coconut sugar can also do a lot more than just add sweetness to your morning coffee! It’s loaded with minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and B vitamins.

Ways to Incorporate into Your Diet:

Coconut sugar can be used as a substitute for white sugar in baking or dessert recipes or anything else you’d use sugar for!

Where to Find it & Cost:

Coconut sugar can be found at most health food shops. I use the Loving Earth brand, which costs around $7.50 for 300g.

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Recipe Idea:

These cookies are to die for! They are quick, easy to make and require minimal cleaning (just what I like!). They are perfect for a picnic or to accompany a cup of tea. Just try not to eat all the mixture before the cookies make it to the oven

Coconut Date Cookies

Makes 6-8 cookies

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Ingredients:

♥ 1 cup pitted dates (soaked for approx 5 mins to soften then drain)
♥ 1/3 cup rolled oats
♥ 1/2 cup shredded coconut
♥ 1 tsp baking powder
♥ 1 TBS vanilla
♥ 1-3 TBS coconut sugar (depending on how sweet you want them)
♥ 1 TBS coconut oil
♥ 1/4 cup coconut milk or choice of milk (use nut milk for vegan cookies!)

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Directions:

♥ Preheat oven to 170*C (fan forced).

♥ Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend well until there are no large date pieces.

♥ Portion mixture into equal sized balls, place on greased cookie sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon/spatula.

♥ Bake for 12-15 minutes on 170 degrees.

♥ Remove from oven and cool on cookie rack.

♥ Store cookies in the refrigerator.

YUM! Do you like the sound of these healthy cookies?! Let us know

Article by Kavisha, self confessed ‘health foodie’ who believes a little dessert is good for the soul. She is currently studying for her Master of Wellness at RMIT University and blogs at Style My Coconut.

Be well,

xoxo

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As we get older and wiser our lifestyle choices experience a little bit of a change. As teenagers our ideal lunch may have been a Happy Meal followed up by a large chocolate sundae (extra topping), but as adults the more vegetables and super foods packed into healthy meals the better. I’ve found that my skin routine has followed this cycle too, as a teenager showering every night was the height of my skin-care schedule and now as an adult I look for products that I know are putting goodness into my pores. So when the Laviol Organic products arrived on my doorstep I felt as though I had a big, delicious and healthy meal waiting for me to enjoy!

Laviol Organic is an Australian owned and made certified organic skin brand. Their delicious smelling products are made with only pure, natural and certified organic ingredients. The brand ‘Laviol’ has a beautiful meaning, the name comes from a combination of Lavender, Violet and Olive Leaf and these plants symbolise constancy, modesty, simplicity, peace and healing. They helped give my skin that extra bit of organic love it deserved and here are my thoughts;

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♥ Shea Butter Cleanser – $38.50 / 125ml

The orange scented cleanser was like a well deserved dessert for my skin, indulgent and delicious. It’s said to gently lift away surface impurities and cleanse, balance and keep skin soft and hydrated- which it did.

♥ Rosehip Antioxidant Cream – $59.95 / 50ml

This was my favourite product. I loved the wonderfully thick cream and the luxurious feel of it on my face. I also found it extremely versatile, easily enjoyed as a day or night cream. Smelling like a delicious cup of herbal rose tea didn’t hurt either!

♥ Bearberry Brightening Moisturiser – $62.50 / 50ml

Whilst this product didn’t suit my personal beauty routine, the hydrating natural oils and antioxidants would be perfect for women who have a tired, dull or uneven skin tone.

♥ The perfect combo.

♥ Rose Otto Hydrosol – $34.95 / 125ml

With the addition of Aloe Vera this product is perfect for any lover of sunshine, I’ve been making sure to spritz myself after every beach trip to rehydrate my dry and salty skin.

♥ Seaweed Antioxidant Eye Cream – $55 / 30ml

I’ve always had a fascination with eye creams. As a younger version of myself I watched my mum apply hers delicately every night and this one was no different. You only need to apply a tiny amount to leave your eye region feeling renewed and brighter.

Laviol Organic is available online through their web store.

What do you think of the look of the range? Any other organic favourites you’d like to share? Comment below!

Review by the wonderful Jade, now with added organic face nourishment!

Be well,

xoxo

♥ Natural yoghurt, blueberries, banana, honey & cinnamon sugar – breakfast of champions!

I’ve decided to start a new segment where I’ll showcase in photo-form some of the best wellness snippets of my past week! I might also get some guest “Week in the Wellness Life”-ers so stay tuned, enjoy – and let me know if you like the idea! xo

♥ 100% pomegranate juice from Grill’d. My friends and I all decided to try it! It was quite sweet, I prefer the sour cherry.

♥ I was incredibly happy to receive this beautiful pack from local favourites Sodashi, containing mini versions of their best selling concentrates, a soft face towel and a quiz to find out which one suits me best!

♥ A mini vegan chocolate feast for the bf and I. The cherry Green & Blacks is my all time favourite dark chocolate. HANDS DOWN. It is a little harder to find than the other Green & Blacks flavours, but if you see it make sure to swoop up a block. So good. The acai bar is a favourite of my boyfriends, I have to admit I haven’t tried it. Conscious Chocolate is a fairly new brand, WITH THE CUTEST PACKAGING OF ALL TIME! Plus their choccies are all hand-made. We didn’t try this one yet but I can’t wait! And the minty one up the top was from PAWS Vegan Cafe, unfortunately it was my least fave.

♥ Three drinks which are rocking my world.

1. Reboot Your Life – Very Berry Good. These are found in the fruit n veg section at woolies and are AMAZING. Seriously. They have the lowest sugar count of any freshly pressed juice I’ve come across (10g as opposed to upwards of 30g) so don’t leave you feeling spacey after 20 minutes, plus they have spinach in them, plus they are DELISH. They’re created by Joe Cross from the Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead doco I reviewed recently. You must try these. There are heaps of other flavours too!

2. Almond Breeze almond milk – to be honest I haven’t tried this yet. I’m just stoked at the number of convenient almond milks that don’t cost $10 a litre that are showing up in the shops. This one was about $4!

3. Sunraysia Cranberry Juice – a long time favourite of mine, packed full of vit c, antioxidants and just super tasty, tangy and good for you. Especially for anyone who may be prone to UTI issues. This will help sort em out.

♥ Lunch at Edens in Subiaco and a catch up with April Rose (AKA one of our star writers @ Wellness WA!). The smoothie is spinach, mango, banana, apple & ice. Amazing. And the sammy is rye, hummus, alfalfa sprouts, tomato, pineapple, tomato relish, spinach, cucumber, beetroot. I definitely felt healthy afterward!

Love to hear your thoughts on my wellness this week, if you like the new section and if you have any suggestions!

Much love.

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

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If the pomegranate was a woman she would be beautiful, mysterious, extremely healthy and a whole lotta people would ask her to repeat the spelling of her name! So when I was asked to explore the qualities of the elusive Pomegranate I was puzzled and intrigued as to what I would discover.

However after trialling the Wei Pomegranate Buffing Beads, sipping POM Wonderful juice and using pomegranate in my recipes, I feel as though I have met a new exotic, exciting woman who I plan to add to my group of fruit bowl friends (and whose name I will have to practice spelling!)

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Pomegranates are the supermodels of the fruit world, envied by all other fruits for having far too many amazing qualities. And not only beautiful are they on the outside but they are beautiful for your insides too.

The red fruit is laden with seeds encased in a vibrant red pulp and bursting with antioxidants, eating the fresh seeds or drinking pomegranate juice boasts the benefits of:

♥ helping keep wrinkles at bay
♥ lowering cholesterol and blood pressure
♥ good for diabetics
♥ keeping teeth and bones strong
♥ helpful for fertility and menopause
♥ flavoursome and colourful in smoothies and salads
♥ being a rather delicious snack!

This is why I’ve created a ritual around my new and beautiful friend, the Pomegranate.

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For so long whilst perusing the fruit and veg section of the supermarket I would notice the oddly shaped POM Wonderful bottle sitting amongst the fresh dates and containers of chocolate dipping sauce for fruit (which by being placed next to strawberries makes it feel oddly healthy I find, what about you?).

I finally decided to purchase a bottle the other day and may have formed a slight addiction to the liquid ever since. POM Wonderful is a peculiar mixture of sweet and sour but makes you want to take sip after sip. It’s made up of 100% Pomegranate Juice and has all-natural ingredients, no added sugar or artificial additives. I’ve found it to be a perfect post-beach drink to banish the cringe worthy taste of beach water and to help rehydrate my exhausted body.

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Next in my pomegranate ritual is the Wei Pomegranate Buffing Beads. To add to the beach discussion, exfoliating with the Wei pomegranate buffing beads is like taking a swim in the ocean. You finish feeling clean and refreshed. The product is made up of finely milled pomegranate peels and round delicate beads that “buff away dead skin to encourage the growth of fresh new cells and reveal the brighter, younger skin trapped underneath”.

By adding the buffing beads to my everyday cleanser I found I received the feeling of a beneficial sand exfoliating away all of my day’s unwanted nasties and excess skin cells (which is vital in this current ongoing heat!).

Last but not least the pomegranate in its’ purest form. Whilst the fruit as declared previously has so many positive qualities the only negative I found was it’s popularity, I couldn’t find them in stock anywhere! Finally the lovely Annette heard through the grapevine that the pomegranates were hiding out in Jacks Wholefoods and Groceries in Claremont Quarter so I got down there quickly and finally purchased a few (along with a coconut water and goji berries, plus mixed nuts from liquorice on my way out!).

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I cut the fruit in half, squeezed both halves into a bowl (you may have to use your muscles for this part) and proceeded to try with a teaspoon. Like the POM juice they are sweet but tart but also have the extra crunch from the seeds.

When considering how to introduce pomegranate into a home-cooked recipe a foodie friend told me she had a bruschetta with mushrooms, ricotta and topped with pomegranates at The Garden in Leederville however I decided to take the sweet route for my first pomegranate inspired meal.

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Pomegranate Breakfast Sundae

Method: In a glass I dripped honey down the sides for colour (and not because I could eat honey all day every day!) and then layered Margaret River creamy pot set vanilla yogurt (but you can use your yogurt of choice, the rich and delicious yogurt from the stall in the Subiaco Markets would work perfectly too) with pomegranate seeds, before topping the glass of goodness with the excess seeds and juice.

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This recipe is so versatile and so many other delicious treats can be added! If I was wanting a more filling breakfast I would add my favourite muesli between the layers, you could also add peach or banana between the layers, or for a special treat substitute the yogurt for a thickened cream sweetened with honey, agave syrup or a touch of cinnamon and mix through some crushed up meringue (I know what I’ll be craving for dessert tonight!).

Written by Jade and inspired by her new best friend the Pomegranate.

Be well,

xoxo