Banana on toast - only much better for you!

Snacks are something that a lot of people wanting to be healthy struggle with. Everyone needs a little enjoyment between meals that will keep you sustained and energised as well as mentally satisfied. Here is a quick easy treat that you can have anywhere in no time at all.

This recipe is what inspired me to make the 4 seeds crackers. There are so many savoury raw crackers but none are neutral! Like bread, do what you want with it!! Whatever you can do with bread you can do with our 4-seed crackers – except roll them up!!  I wanted something that would satisfy those quick sweet snacks like honey and jam on bread. This is also great because it is gluten free, grain free, dairy free with no additives or flavours at all, not even salt! 

Here are some other things you can do with a 4-seed cracker

• ·         Sandwich
• ·         Toast
• ·         Crackers for dips, spread or pate
• ·         Pizza base – little ones!!

Ground up and used as

• ·         Crumbs
• ·         Fillings for nutmeat and stuffing
• ·         Flour in cakes and muffins
• ·         Used in raw bliss balls
• ·         Raw cheesecake base (just process with dried fruit)
• ·         Sprinkle on a salad
• ·         Sprinkles on fruit salad
• ·         Thicken recipes

And that’s just of the top of my head while I type this up.

Then there is the nutrition they contain

Pepitas – for zinc, iron, magnesium, protein and tryptophan.. to help you stay happy! Good for combating prostate cancer and they are anti-inflammatory which is good for everything including arthritis? 

Sunflower seeds – Vitamin E, selenium and folate.. all great for female health including hormones and gorgeous skin. Also heart health, hot flushes and they are anti-inflammatory.

Flaxseeds – Omega 3!! Need I say anymore. Plus lignans for digestive and heart health and fiber.

Chia seeds – another omega-3 hit, antioxidants, fiber, calcium and protein.

Source: http://www.whfoods.com/

Simple, just add sliced banana, raw honey and a sprinkle of fresh or organic dried coconut to a Kitz 4-seed cracker. Enjoy!

Miso yummy fat free Kale chips and stixs

Kale chips

Kale Stix



All of the Kale chip recipes i've seen are made with either nuts, seeds or oil. Now sometimes that's great but sometimes I just want a light snack. I also make these and crush them up like the celery sprinkles to use in salads. Kale is such a nutrutious green as it is extremely high in vitamins, A, C and K as well as a being a good source of usuable calcium and magnesium. It even has ALA omega 3 in it. Research has shown that Kale consumption is linked to so many improvements in your health and energy that you could write a book on it.
Kale chips are a really easy way to get lots of in!! The truth is I have to stop myself from eating it all before I get it out of the dehydrator.
Most people throw the stalks out but I just can't do that so I had a go at these stix and they are amazing. Yeh, nothing is waisted.
Just like everything I make, nothing is measured so these are just estimates.

Kale chips & stix

Ingredients:
2 bunches of fresh organic kale
3/4 cup freshly sprouted mung beans
1 tsp unpasturised barley miso
1/2 glove of fresh garlic
1 cm peice of fresh ginger
1 tsp fresh tumeric
Splash of low sodium tamari
good healthy splash of homemade saurkraut juice

Preparation:

Wash kale then strip the leaves off the stalks. Chop the leaves into medium sized chunks and place into a large bowl. Chop the stalks into sticks about 5cm long and place into a separate bowl.

Blend all the remaining ingredients in a personal blender, pour onto the chopped kale and gently massage it in.

For the Stixs I added a little bit of stevia to give it a more teriyaki type flavour, you could also use a few sultanas, raisins, agave or a date. the combination of sweet, savoury is always nice, especially with ginger and garlic. I did a separate batch of the wet ingredients for the stix and the chips, so you will need to do the about recipe twice.

Before going into the dehydrator

Bush lemons are abundant at the moment and they are divine. Precious Katie has been bringing them in for me regularly as well as a few limes .. now they are really special!! She gets them from a tree growing wild in the hinterland. Perfect, no sprays, no polution!

I also had some freeze dried blueberry powder I needed to use up. The result of that is this cheezecake type swirl.

The ingredients make this a perfect after training snack.. gotta be happy with that!

Bush lemon blueberry swirl

Ingredients

Approximate only!

Base

1 cup of active mix or equal amount of any other nut or seed. (Preferably sprouted and dehydrated)

½ cup sultanas (raisins)

½ t each of cinnamon and vanilla bean

Squirt of agave or enough to bring it together or to taste!

Preparation:

· Process active mix or nuts in a food processor with the S blade until fine. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until it sticks together when pressed into a ball.

· Press into a baking paper lined cheesecake tin. Place in the fridge or freezer while you prepare the filling.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups cashews – soaked in filtered water for a least 2hrs

Juice and zest of 2 bush lemons. (Normal lemons would be fine)

½ - 2/4 cup dark raw agave

2 large scoops of Sunworrier vanilla protein powder

1 tbs freeze dried blueberry powder (or fresh/frozen, about ½ cup)

½ tsp guar gum

Preparation:

· Rinse and drain cashews then add enough filtered water to just cover them in a high speed blender. I use the Sunbeam Café series 1100 watt and it is fine. If you have a vitamix!! Lucky you. J

· Add the lemon juice, zest and agave and blend until smooth and creamy. You may need to add more water or agave depending on your taste.

· Add the protein powder and blend it in. then with the motor still running slowly rain the guar gum into the blender through the little hole at the top until it is nice and thick with no lumps. It is important to keep the motor running as it can clump.

· Dollop about 5 big spoons full or a little over half of the mix onto the base. Leave it until you add the blueberry mix

· Add the blueberries to the rest of the mix and blend until it is back to the smooth creamy consistency again. Dollop the rest into the base around the lemon cream.

· Note: if you used fresh or frozen blueberries and it made the mix too runny you can add more guar gum and agave or just freeze it that will help it stabilize.

· Carefully with the handle of a spoon swirl the two mixes until you get a lovely combination of colours, don’t overdo it or it will turn to mud!! Tap it gently on the bench the settle the mix and smooth the top as much as you can then place it back into the fridge or freeze until it is set.

Enjoy!

Still loving raw even though i've been absent from my blog

 Smashed Lemon Casheeze Cake

 Citrus Coconut cakes with Fig Jam and Cashew Cream

 Coconut cake, banana passionfruit salad with Super charged sprinkles and warm macadamia cream

 Pear flan with apricot jam - Nut and seed free

Raw Almond Shortbread House

With Christmas only 5 days away I had to get together our traditional "Gingerbread House". I haven't done one for a couple of years as the kids don't really like gingerbread but they did always love the lollies on it and it looks so nice at Christmas time. To be honest it never really worried me that they didn't eat it as it's not the kind of food I want them to enjoy! But this year I decided to have a go at a raw version and chose the recipe for the Kitz Almond Shortbread cookies for the walls and roof. All healthy with no ginger! The cement is a Cashew Cacao butter cream with agave. The rest is just good ole raw superfoods.. almonds, goji berries, pepitas, apricots, spirulina and coconut with some orange and lemon zest for sparkle. I would have liked the cream to be a bit smoother but didn't feel like having another go at it.
Here it is in all it's glory!! A bit wonky but ok for a rushed rainy Sunday.. :)

Simplicity

I am really enjoying the warm weather, Summer is a great time to enjoy the simple things in life. Fresh air, sunshine, clean beaches, clear water, great running and walking, relaxing, family, friends, pets, gardening.. all of these things are free and bring so much joy. There not complicated, agressive or negative if we handle them properly. Enthusiasm, encouragement and positiveness with friends, family and pets and the sheer joy of our natural environment with the remainder. We are so lucky.

And one of my favourite for summer.. (actually all year!) is the FRUIT.. wonderful, glorious fruit! I am devouring rockmelons, watermelon, mango's, papaya, pineapple, apricots, peaches, kiwi's and more..... it's all just so sweet and hydrating. I am thoroughly enjoying the simpliciy of Fruit! It tastes great, it digests well, it satisfies my sweet tooth and it's easy to get and prepackaged.

Some new stuff and specials for the festive season

Great ideas for Kitz Living Foods products

With all the fun of Christmas about to happen I want to make sure everyone can have a great time and join in the festive fun which includes eating delicious food.. just don't tell your friends and family it's good for them.. funny thing that isn't it how some people feel that the only way you can get enjoyment out of food is if it is, well.. I would call it processed rubbish!!

But not all of us, I know that you guys are all like me and love feeling great! The only way to stay like at is to eat a fresh healthy diet, gets lots of fresh air and movement, live in the moment and to enjoy our friends and family.

I have always wished for health and happiness.. because to me with that I have everything! It means that the rest of life is great. Remembering to thoroughly enjoy the simple things in life is such a blessing. Things like a super sweet rockmelon that reminds me of caramel, and good run where I have an abundance of energy and just want to go for it, peace and quiet to recharge my batteries, waking up early to prepare green smoothies and fresh healthy fruit salad granola's for my family then us all sitting down to enjoy it together, dinners together with great conversation, treks out into the country to do a nature walk or a 10km canoe trip to a lovely location for lunch.. these are that things that fulfill me.. :)

So to help keep everyone on track with delicious snacks for this special time I am going to be offering some great special on the Kitz Living Foods website plus some one offs special runs of some new products I want to make for everyone to enjoy..

Chunk Special

This week it is the Chunk special with choc chip goji, pineapple pepita and almond, fig and macadamia and the banana, date and walnuts all for the price of just 3, buy for and get one free. There are also the new Almond choc chunk cookies with the chocolate cream filling which have nearly run out.

Chocolate cashew cream filled almond choc chunk cookies