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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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We’d love for you to join us for an afternoon of celebrating life, bringing together yoga, music, nature and our hearts.

Stuart Watkins and friends will be combining yoga with music while we celebrate life and connect with nature.

This event will be running on a donation basis and all of the profits will be going to Africare.

The yoga will be suitable for complete beginner to advanced yoga practitioner. Even if you just want to dance and/or meditate we’d love for you to join us.

There are two events, both at the Saw Avenue Amphitheater in Kings Park:

1. Friday, April 6, 2012 – 3:00pm until 6:00pm

2. Friday, April 29, 2012 – 3:00pm until 6:00pm

Sign up on the Facebook event page to keep up to date!

Be Love, Be Truth, Be Yoga.

Hope to see you all down there! Ommmm.

Be well,

Annette

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

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Hundreds of millions of people, businesses and governments around the world unite each year by turning out the lights for one hour in support of the largest environmental event in history – Earth Hour.

Miranda Kerr is one the of the global ambassadors for Earth Hour and will be hosting her own yoga session in Sydney, whilst here in Perth you can join this amazing initiative while also cherishing your body and mind.

♥ Renee

Local Pilates Instructor and fitness specialist Renee Kendall, who writes a weekly blog for Miranda’s KORA Organics website, will be hosting a Perth Earth Hour event to raise awareness and support for Earth Hour 2012.

Together with studio director and Physiotherapist Audrey Ng, a free Pilates class will take place under candle light at Performance Pilates & Physiotherapy in West Perth on Saturday 31 March at 8:30pm.

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“The studio has an amazing view of Perth’s city skyline. It will be really special to see Perth’s entire city lights turn off for the hour in support of Earth Hour while we will be hosting Pilates by candlelight.” says Audrey Ng.

There will also be prizes and goodies with thanks to KORA Organics! Free pilates, candles, organic skincare and wonderful company. What more could you want! 🙂

Register online at Renz Pilates or call Performance Pilates & Physiotherapy on 9228 2778 to be part of this magical initiative. Spaces are limited.

Be well,

Annette

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