Makes 18 generous slices

Ingredients
½ cup (75g) Wholemeal Self-Raising Flour
½ cup (50g) Coconut Flour
350g Pitted Dried Dates
11/4 cups (85g) Shredded (Desiccated) Coconut
1½ tbsps. Ground Ginger
4 Eggs
½ cup (100g) Coconut Sugar or Rapadura Sugar
¾ cup (185ml) Unhulled Tahini*
¾ cup (185ml) Coconut Milk or Coconut Cream

Method

• Preheat oven to Moderate.
• Line a 17x26cm lamington pan with baking paper leaving long ends for easy removal.
• Roughly chop the dates.
• Combine both flours, dates, 1 cup of the coconut, and the ground ginger in a large bowl.
• Use an electric beater to beat the eggs and sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add the tahini and coconut milk/cream and beat on low speed until just combined.
• Pour the tahini mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a metal spoon until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and smooth surface with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with remaining coconut.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside for 15 minutes to cool. Turn onto a board and cut into fingers, triangles or squares. These can be frozen, between layers of baking paper in a sealed container for 3 months.

Sand and Succotash (interesting name) is the blog of Renee Shelton, a passionate foodie and writer who specialises in reviewing cook books and has gathered a large audience because of her independent, thorough and reliable reviews.

She says ‘If a book was given to me from a publisher, or from the authors themselves, I’ll disclose that, but all opinions are my own and I have no financial gain in it (other than a free book).’

In addition to cook books you’ll find reviews for craft and sewing, sports and outdoor, and some general fiction and non-fiction books. Many of the books she reviews are also quite unusual and satisfy a particluar niche – so if you’re looking for a gift for someone who seems to have every book under the sun already, her site might be a good source of unique ideas.

Her interests and knowledge are wide, and well,… different  – take a look at Pastry Sampler and Beach Cuisine! You never quite know with Renee where her interests will take her next, and if you get on board you could find yourself in some fascinating places!

Give it a go, and have fun.

Jodi Johnson and Kirsten Nicolson, founders of Womens Wellness are focused on the issues that face women in their pursuit of health and happiness for their families as well as themselves.

So they’re hosting this event which will  be run by myself, Hazel on Wednesday 7th November. See you there!

All the booking details left, but click here to register your interest and you’ll be contacted in due course.

How many of us know personally someone who’s suffering from a disease caused by poor eating habits? It seems we’re getting sicker, and part of the problem is our modern diet of intensively-farmed foods grown unnaturally using a cocktail of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

Food is our source of not just energy, protein, minerals and the rest, but other more subtle, but equally vital substances like antioxidants and enzymes that are known to reduce the risk of cancer – a disease on the rampage.

“As long ago as 337 BC, Hippocrates, stated, ‘Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.’ I think it’s time we listened and invested more in producing high quality food.”

Yet even if we follow the advice from health experts to eat more fruit, vegetables and whole grains, we may still not be doing enough. Why? Because produce grown using chemicals in the depleted soils of conventional farms are depleted themselves of vital health-giving nutrients.

And it’s not just plant foods that are affected – Jenelle Povey, owner of Brisbane-based organic butcher and health food store The MeaT-Ting Place points out that meat produced using conventional methods, and grazing on poor soils or where animals are grain fed, contains more fat with lower levels of beta-carotene, fewer vitamin B’s and reduced amounts of calcium, magnesium, potassium and omega-3’s. The meat also has a poor ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids and is much lower in CLA (cis-9-trans-11 – an important cancer fighting nutrient) than the organic equivalent. And conventionally produced meat is much higher in the saturated fats linked to heart disease.

In contrast, a European study found that mothers consuming mostly organic milk and meat products have about 50 percent higher levels of the beneficial CLA rumenic acid in their breast milk.  And organically farmed meat also has higher levels of vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA). And it’s leaner too.

‘Organic crops produce more phytochemicals, and these phytochemicals provide us with the antioxidants that protect us from cancer, because they’re the plant’s own natural protection against pests and diseases.’

CLA (conjugated linoleic acids) are a family of nutrients found mainly in meat and dairy products that have two very important benefits: firstly CLA’s have been shown to hinder the growth of tumours and secondly they have a significant effect on reducing body fat.

Local author Hazel Key, who’s written a book to help busy mum’s make healthy home-made lunches for children believes organic is the answer.

“When food is grown quickly using chemical fertilisers, the plants just don’t have the time to absorb those important micro-nutrients from the soil, even if they do exist!”. She adds “so instead of needing to eat just one conventionally grown apple a day, we may need to eat two or even three, with all the chemical residues included! That’s when we realise that organic produce offers good value for money. But more than that – it’s counter-productive to prepare a ‘healthy’ recipe using ingredients depleted of nutrients and contaminated with chemicals!”

Hazel’s also an advocate of home-cooking in preference to eating fast and manufactured foods. She points out that the ingredients used in many processed foods are very often sub-standard and bear little resemblance to the original produce. “It’s been said that you ‘should only eat food your grandmother would recognise’. I think that’s wise advice.”

And the use of chemical fertilisers on our fruit and vegetables has a double disadvantage – it seems they’re partly to blame for the lack of nutrients. Organic crops produce more phytochemicals, and these phytochemicals provide us with the antioxidants that protect us from cancer, because they’re the plant’s natural protection against pests and diseases. “The soils on organic farms are rich and alive and contain everything the plant, or animal needs in abundance. When we consume foods from these sources our health benefits. It’s as simple as that.”

‘Instead of needing to eat just one conventionally grown apple a day, we may need to eat two or even three, with all the chemical residues included! That’s when we realise that organic produce offers such good value for money.’

Hazel, a mother of two, jokes about being ‘the former CEO of a tuck-shop’. But it’s where she learned something important: that getting kids to eat healthily is made much easier if you offer nutritious versions of familiar foods. “Kids are often wary of obscure food, so my approach is to offer them Sushi, Meatballs, Pizza, even Chocolate Cake! And using the best quality and healthiest ingredients, especially organic and whole foods, is essential.” She believes in eating widely and including all the food groups whilst limiting the amount of processed food in the diet. “We have to realise that our food is the first defence against disease. Too often we rely on supplements, drugs and other remedies. Yes, those have their place, but preventing disease in the first place is surely what it’s all about?”

On  5^th – 14^th October, Brisbane-based Certified Organic Butcher The Meat-ting Place will be participating in National Organic Week and hosting free in-store events, giving customers the opportunity to learn the facts about organics and discover more about the real difference between organic produce and conventional. Find out more here:
http://www.organicweek.net.au/core/
http://themeat-tingplace.com.au

For more about Hazel’s work and to access her free recipes, and her book, visit http://lunchideasforschool.com

Nature is such a wonder – that colour is ‘woo-hooing’ that there’s goodness waiting in them there berries. And I’m taking notice ‘cos I’m pretty sure the love of mulberries is universal amongst children, providing a bonus-boost for their health.

I did some research and discovered that mulberries are a good source of 5 minerals, lots of vitamin C, an antioxidant valued for it’s heart health benefits, and unusually, a raw food protein.

Ok, so, apart from eating them straight off the tree or out of the bowl, what else can be done to make use of this delicious bonanza?

Quick Easy and Healthy Clafoutis!

Clafoutis is a delicious dessert recipe that’s very easy to make and healthy too. This recipe swaps milk for coconut milk, which adds to both taste and nutritional value – coconut is known to support the immune system. And the addition of my much-loved Pistachio nuts adds crunchiness and colour. And last of all this recipe can be frozen, why not make some individual ones for lunch boxes?

Mulberry and Pistachio Clafoutis

2 cups fresh Mulberries
2 tablespoons Pistachio Nuts, chopped
1 Lemon, zest only
1/2 cup Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/3 cup Coconut Sugar or Rapadura Sugar
pinch of Salt
3 Eggs
1/4 cup Butter, melted
3/4cup Coconut Milk
1/2 Vanilla Bean, scraped

• Butter a shallow ovenproof dish and spread the mulberries and nuts into it sprinkling the lemon zest over the top.
• Pre-heat the oven to Moderate (you can put the butter in the oven to melt).
• Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the sugar, and salt.
• Break the eggs into a separate bowl and add the melted butter, coconut milk and vanilla. Whisk lightly.
• Add the  dry ingredients to the egg mixture and whisk to combine and remove any lumps.
• Pour this batter over the fruit in the dish.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes and serve straight from the oven with some Creme Fraiche.

Breakfast Cakes with Macadamia and Sunflower Seeds

This recipe really is the best! It makes the most delicious, nutty, yet light and fluffy pancakes for a wholesome and satisfying breakfast option – perfect fuel for kids before school!  And it’s a useful recipe for those with mild intolerances too.

Oats and Buttermilk are two of my favourite ingredients. Why? Well, for a start oats are the only cereal containing a high-quality protein equal to milk, meat and eggs! Oats are also fibre-rich and can be cooked and eaten in so many different ways. And did you know there’s a gluten-free option available in the form of uncontaminated oats? All in all they really do offer great nutritional value.

Buttermilk is a low-lactose food. That’s because the bacteria in the culture that’s added to produce buttermilk digests most of the lactose. Great news for those who are lactose intolerant.

This recipe uses another of my favourite foods too – coconut, in the form of flour, sugar and milk, which is good because coconut contains some wonderful nutrients, such as those that boost the immune system, and they offer a healthy alternative to wheat flour, cane sugar and milk.

And there’s more: The batter can be made in advance, the pancakes freeze really well and because the uncooked batter can also be frozen, you can prepare a big batch and divide it up to make the different varieties I’ve suggested, saving you time and effort.

Last but not least the variations are seemingly endless! I’ve done some brainstorming and come up with a number of ideas (the first three of which I’ve tried and all were yummy) and there are some savoury ideas too, which I’ll report on when I’ve tested them out.

But I bet you could come up with dozens more yourself and I think kids will love the idea of inventing their own favourite versions.

Prep Time: 15 minutes. Cook Time: 15 minutes.

Ingredients (bulk quantity for 12 large pancakes, 6-12 servings)

1 1/3 cups Organic Rolled Oats

600ml carton Cultured Buttermilk

1 cup Coconut Flour

½ cup Wholemeal Flour

3 tablespoons Coconut Sugar*

1 tablespoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

6 large Eggs

4 tablespoons/40g Unsalted Butter (or Oil*)

Milk or Coconut Milk to consistency (about 2 cups)

Unsalted Butter (or Oil*) for frying

* Coconut sugar is available in many health food stores. Rapadura sugar can be used instead.Coconut oil is a good choice.

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the oats and buttermilk.
2. If using butter put it into a small frying pan to melt over a low heat.
3. In another bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, and salt.
4. Whisk together the eggs, coconut sugar and melted butter or oil. Add this to the oats and buttermilk before adding the dry ingredients and whisking until combined.
5. Using the whisk, gradually add enough of the milk/coconut milk to achieve a slightly runny ‘porridge’ consistency.

At this point you can freeze the batter in portions (1/4 to 1/2 cup per pancake) or cook and freeze them (in a sealed container, in layers with non-stick baking paper between the layers).

1. To cook: Heat a fry-pan or griddle over medium-high heat (ie 6/10). Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil or butter to the pan. check the consistency of the batter and add water or milk if it’s very thick. Ladle the pancake batter into the hot oil (about 1/3 cup, or whatever size you prefer). Cook each side until browned (about 3 minutes).
2. Serve, or cool and freeze, or refrigerate overnight.

Tip: keep the pancakes small if you’re not confident at flipping them!

Apple & Cinnamon Breakfast Cakes

The cooked pancakes, wrapped in foil, can be warmed in a slow oven (20-30 mins) or in a fry-pan over a med-low heat. And why not make use of your oven timer – put the wrapped pancakes into the oven the night before, set the timer and have the warm, ready-to serve pancakes welcome you to an effortless breakfast.

Don’t forget, if you like this recipe, please share it with your friends, and if you manage to improve it tell me about that too!

Variations

Coconut and Pistachio – Add ½ cup Desiccated Coconut and ¼ cup Shelled Pistachio’s (blended to a meal or as fine as desired) to the dry ingredients at step 3. Serve with sliced Banana, Passionfruit and some Ricotta or Mascarpone Cheese.

Apple & Cinnamon – Grate one large Apple and add to the oats and buttermilk in step 1. Add 1 tsp Cinnamon at step 3. Serve with warmed Honey and a handful of plump Raisins (you can soak them in a little Apple Juice overnight).

Sunflower and Macadamia – Toast 2/3 cup chopped Macadamias in the frying pan until golden before melting the butter at step 2. Grind 1/2 cup Sunflower Seeds to a meal and add to the dry ingredients with a couple of tablespoons whole sunflower seeds and the toasted Macadamias with the dry ingredients at step 4. Serve with Crème Fraiche (Quark) and sliced Kiwi Fruit.

Date and Walnut - serve with thin slices of orange

Orange and Almond

Ginger and Honey

Pumpkin Seed and Raisin

Lemon and Ginger

Maple and Pecan – serve with warmed Maple Syrup and Blueberries

Creamed Corn and Cheese – serve with diced Tomato and Avocado

Sweet Potato and Coriander Pesto – serve with thin slices of smoked Salmon

Cranberry and Molasses

Wheatgerm and Banana

Refined Cane Sugar.

Simply by eliminating refined sugar from your diet these goals can be achieved, all of them! Isn’t that empowering?
And this does not mean that a diet free of refined cane sugar will not include sweet foods. There are many ways to enjoy sweet foods, other than with sugar, and there are now so many other options for sweetening foods that really, there’s no excuse! Here’s a non-exhaustive list of alternatives:

Coconut Sugar

• Coconut Sugar – Low GI and contains 36 times the iron, four times the magnesium, and over 10 times the amount of zinc of cane sugar.
• Agave Syrup – Lower GI than table sugar and 1.5 times as sweet.
• Stevia Extract – Likely to benefit diabetic patients.
• Maple Syrup – Contains nutritionally significant amounts of zinc and manganese as well as antioxidants that may benefit Type 2 Diabetes sufferers.
• Raw Honey - Traces of vitamins, minerals and several compounds thought to function as beneficial antioxidants.
• Rapaduara Sugar - Derived from cane sugar but the processing retains the molasses and beneficial nutrients lost in traditional sugar processing.
• Blackstrap Molasses - Derived from cane sugar, blackstrap molasses is a rich source of potassium, also providing useful vitamins and minerals including B5 and 6, calcium and iron. It has a rich flavour and adds a lovely chewy texture to baking.

Want to read about the frightening effects cane sugar can have on the body? By Beata Sinclair, Nutritionist

I’m sure you have heard that obesity is being blamed on overeating; do you know what causes overeating? You guessed it, sugar. How about elevated triglycerides? Sugar is the culprit. Digestion problems? Check your sugar intake; sugar will displace the beneficial bacteria in your gut by feeding the ‘bad’ bacteria causing indigestion, reflux, and constipation, and that’s just for starters!

What if I told you that sugar targets the same neurotransmitters as nicotine, alcohol and drugs? Sugar is an addictive substance and once you have it in your diet your body will crave it even though there are no health benefits from consuming it.

Raw and brown sugars are not much healthier than white. They all undergo the same refining process; the molasses is actually added back to the end product (white sugar) to become brown or raw sugar! Chemicals used in the refining process include sulphur dioxide, lime, phosphoric acid, bleaching agents and viscosity reducers.

Whether you are trying to lose weight, improve your health or manage a health condition, reducing the amount of sugar (or even better eliminating it altogether) will bring many positive changes and benefits to your health.

Here are just few more negative consequences of including sugar in your diet:

• Sugar suppresses your immune system by lowering white cell activity.
• Sugar upsets the mineral relationship in your body: causing chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with the absorption of calcium and magnesium.
• Sugar can cause a rapid rise in adrenaline leading to hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
• Sugar can also: reduce learning capacity, cause an increase in ‘bad’ cholesterol and triglycerides and a drop in good cholesterol levels.
• It can increase oxidative damage to your cells and tissue by free radicals, reduce the body’s ability to defend against bacterial infection,  feed inflammation.
• Can feed cancer cells and therefore increase the risk of many types of cancer (such as breast, colon, rectal, pancreatic or gastric cancer).
• Can lower the activity of enzymes in our body, cause constipation, headaches migraine and depression, increase the body’s fluid retention, lower the production of stomach acids,  exacerbate disbiosis (yeast overgrowth) and PMS, increase the concentration of bile acids in stool and bacterial enzymes in the colon, which can then make the bile to produce cancer causing compounds leading to cancer of the colon, increase oestrogen levels in men,  increase the chances of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, make our skin age by changing the structure of collagen, contribute to eczema in children, cause food allergies, contribute to haemorrhoids, cause arthritis.
• Sugar is an addictive substance.

Article written by Beata Sinclair, Nutritionist and Hazel Key.

Been experimenting with the Blueberry Egg Pudding recipe from my book The Clever Packed Lunch, and this variation proved a winner in the school lunches today.

I kept it healthy by using Unsweetened Cocoa Powder and just a small amount of Rapadura Sugar.

So why bother making these egg puddings when you can simply make muffins?

Because these are not only moist, yummy and that little bit different, but they have double the amount of eggs that most muffins do.

And that’s significant – did you know that (in Australia at least) eggs contain every single nutrient, bar one, that has  recently been shown to be deficient in kid’s diets?

Now eggs boost brain function too, thanks to a wonderful ingredient called Choline and the familiar Omega 3 Fatty Acids, which has got to be good news for school kids who seem to be under intense pressure to perform these days.

So this is a great way to get more eggs into them whilst YOU remain popular (important!). And as with most of my recipes, these freeze well, so can be cooked in bulk and will go straight from the freezer into the lunch box on hot days! Here’s the recipe – no time to lose!

Blueberry Egg Puddings
Makes 12 puddings

1½ cups Low Gluten Flour (ie Cake Flour)
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
4 tablespoons Rapadura Sugar
60g (2oz) Butter
4 Eggs
1½ cups Cultured Buttermilk*
1/3rd cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1½ cups Raspberries (frozen or fresh)
*½ and ½ Greek yogurt and water can be whisked together to replace the buttermilk.

• Turn the oven on to Moderately Slow. Put the butter into a medium heatproof bowl and into the oven to melt (about 10 mins).
• Thoroughly oil a 12-hole muffin tray, or you can use squares of greaseproof baking paper (the mixture will stick to ordinary patty papers).
• Remove the melted butter from the oven and turn it up to Moderately Hot.
• In a large bowl (ideally one with a pouring spout) sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Stir in the sugar, breaking up any lumps.
• Add the buttermilk to the melted butter and whisk in the eggs.
• Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and whisk together until just combined.
• Stir in the raspberries.
• Using a spoon to control the flow, pour the batter into the muffin tray, almost filling the cups.
• Bake the puddings for 20-25 minutes until firm.
• Serve immediately or cool completely before freezing in an airtight container between layers of non-stick paper.
• Delicious with a little Greek Yogurt on the side, and maybe even some extra raspberries!
  

Simply Delicious, and Deliciously Simple.

Slices of Brie (or Camembert if you prefer) with finely sliced Red Onion, on Wholemeal Vienna, toasted and served with some crisp and juicy green grapes.

I prepare this chicken for main meals and add extra for use in sandwiches and wraps (which is cooked and stored in the freezer).

Here I’ve simply mashed a ripe avocado with a tablespoon or so of real Egg Mayonnaise, and the Moroccan chicken, spread it inside a wholegrain wrap and rolled it up.

Moroccan Chicken

This is my favourite, and simplest recipe for grilled chicken – utterly delic!

500g lean Chicken Meat (I use breast), diced or cut into strips as preferred
2 cloves finely chopped fresh Garlic
1/4 tsp each of Turmeric, Paprika (sweet or hot, as preferred) and Cumin
juice and rind of 1/2 Lemon
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Mix everything except the chicken together and then coat the chicken in it.

I usually make two or three times the quantity and freeze it, uncooked, in one-meal portions. At dinnertime I grill the de-frosted chicken for about 15 minutes under a medium grill until cooked through and nicely browned. I can then re-freeze the cooked chicken ready for  lunches.

If you’d like more sandiwch ideas you’ll find hundreds of options in my book The Clever Packed Lunch, available online now.