All Posts by vitalassurance

Salted Peanut Smoothie

Packed with a powerful peanut punch, this smoothie is balanced so nicely with chocolate and that pinch of salt. A magnificently refreshing drink for the warmer months to come and believe me you'll be fighting with your kids for this one.

Ingredients:

¼ cup dry roasted peanuts
1 frozen banana, chopped
1 Medjool date, pitted
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon flaxseeds
pinch Himalayan sea salt
1 cup coconut water
Handful ice.

Method:

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend for 60 sec until smooth and creamy. Pour into glass and enjoy.

Serves 1

Fruit and Veg Chocolate Smoothie

Creating the perfect smoothie involves a good balance of sweet and savoury. Although most would find zucchini quite an unusual addition to a smoothie, it has quite a neutral flavour therefore balances out the sweetness of the fruit without being too overpowering (and of course it's a bonus that it's green). You might hesitate, but I would recommend giving this one a go!

Ingredients:

1 red apple, cored and chopped
½ zucchini, chopped
2 tablespoons raw cacao
2 tablespoons natural coconut yoghurt
1 tablespoon flaxseeds
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1¼ cup cashew milk

Method:

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend for 60 sec until smooth and creamy. Pour into glass and enjoy.

Serves 1

Sticky Date Smoothie

Yum, yum, yum. What a perfect way to start of the end the day. This smoothie can very easily be a breakfast or a dessert. It is a quite a sweet tasting smoothie so if sweetness is not your thing you may want to reduce the number of dates you use. I guarantee you though, you will be licking the glass clean 🙂

Ingredients:

5 Medjool dates, pitted
¼ cup hazelnuts
2 tablespoons oats
1 tablespoon hazelnut butter
pinch nutmeg
pinch Himalayan sea salt
1 cup almond milk

Method:

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend for 60 sec until smooth and creamy. Pour into glass and enjoy.

Serves 1

Cauliflower and Broccoli Rice

It can always be quite challenging to think of alternatives to rice or pasta, especially when you are having a meal that is quite saucy and want something to absorb that yummy sauce. In steps your Cauliflower and broccoli rice.... You can do a combination of these vegetables or you can even do them separately. It will take no longer than 10 minutes to prepare and is an awesome way of adding more vegetables to you meal. There's even a Facebook Live video of me preparing it you can see here: 

Ingredients:

½ head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
4 spring onion, sliced thinly
2 cups silverbeet, finely shredded
Seasoning as you like – salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, fresh herbs or Sahara Mingle seasoning

Method:

Place cauliflower and broccoli florets into high speed blender for 3-5 seconds until it resembles rice. Set aside.

Heat a fry pan on the stove and add 1 tablespoon of water. Once the water has heated, add the spring onion and sauté’ for 3-4 minutes. Add the silverbeet and stir until it has wilted slighted. Add the ‘rice’ and seasoning. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the rice does not stick to the pan.

Serves 4

Blueberry Nice Cream

With the warmer months approaching, our bodies crave refreshing, re-hydrating foods and there is nothing better than a delicious serve of ice cream. This recipe will enable you to succumb to your bodies cravings without consuming nay refined sugars, additives or processed ingredients. Naturally sweetened from the fruit and creamy from the cashews, you can enjoy every mouthful knowing your body is thanking you for it.

Ingredients:

¼ cup cashews, soaked for 2 hours prior to use
1 frozen banana, chopped
½ cup frozen blueberries
Splash coconut water

Method:

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend for 30 secs at a time on a medium speed until you get your desired, creamy consistency. Use a spatula in between blending to ensure everything mixes well. You may need to add some extra coconut water during the blending if you find the mixture is too dry.

Remove from blender and you can top with coconut, cacao nibs, fresh fruit or muesli.

Serves 1

Coco-Pops No Bake Bars

I was inspired to create this after seeing a recipe on the Super Healthy Kids website. Together with my son, Nate, we were able to re-create a childhood memory of mine, Coco Pops, into a guilt-free, refined sugar free, nutritious bar that the kids can enjoy as a lunch box snack.

Ingredients:

½ cup sunflower seed butter
½ cup raw honey
50g unsweetened chocolate
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1¼ cups rolled oats
2¼ cups puffed quinoa

Method:

Prepare baking dish, 9cm x 13cm, by lining with baking paper and set aside.

Place the sunflower butter, honey and chocolate in a saucepan and on medium heat melt until it is all well combined. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Remove saucepan from the heat and then mix in the oats so that it is well combined. Add the quinoa and mix until well combined.

Transfer mixture into prepared dish and set in fridge for 1 hour. Can be stored in well sealed glass container for 2 weeks in the fridge.

Makes 15 bars

Crunchy Cucumber Salad

4 ingredients is all it takes to put this tasty salad together. It is a great salad to have in the warmer months with cucumber being so hydrating. The cashews adds a really nice crunch. This salad can be used as a side to any meal or even just add some chickpeas or lentils and you have an awesome vegetarian meal.

Ingredients:

2 continental cucumbers
100g baby spinach leaves, shredded
handful raw cashews, crushed
handful fresh parsley or corriander
sprinkle chili flakes

Dressing:
1 lemon juiced
1 teaspoon tamari
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons light coconut milk
¼ teaspoon grated ginger

Method:

Place all dressing ingredients in a jar, mix well until combined and then set aside.

Prepare your cucumbers, by scrapping out the seeds from the middle and then slicing them.

Place your shredded spinach on a plate, top with the cucumber, crushed cashews and herb of choice. Sprinkle with a little chili.

Drizzle dressing prior to serving

Serves 6 as a side salad

Peach Matcha Smoothie

I love making smoothies with lots of different coloured ingredients, but it's still really important to get our greens in, so adding a little Matcha is a versatile way of doing this. This smoothie has a great combination of fibre and good fats that will leaving you feeling satisfied and full.

Ingredients:

1 peach, chopped
¼ avocado
¼ cup Coyo vanilla coconut yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon Matcha powder
1 cup coconut water
5 ice cubes

Method:

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend for 60 sec until smooth and creamy. Pour into glass and enjoy.

Serves 1

Spring Melon Smoothie

I like to be creative and use different fruit that are in season to make my smoothies. Melons are so sweet and delicious during the Spring months so it is the perfect time to utilise these to give your smoothies that natural sweetness you desire. The blend of the cashew nuts and coconut yoghurt makes this smoothie nice and creamy.

Ingredients:

1 cup honeydew, chopped
2 Medjool dates, pitted
¼ cup activated cashews
small handful baby spinach
2 tablespoons natural coconut yoghurt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup coconut water

Method:

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend for 60 sec until smooth and creamy. Pour into glass and enjoy.

Serves 1

Mandarin Cinnamon Smoothie

Mandarins are beautiful spring fruits that are refreshing and hydrating. This smoothie has everything you need for a complete meal - protein, complex fibre rich carbohydrates and good sources of fat. Apart from the delicious flavour cinnamon adds to your smoothie, it is great for balancing your blood sugars.

Ingredients:

1 mandarin, peeled and pips removed
1 frozen banana, chopped
¼ cup activated cashews
1 tablespoon hemp seeds
1 tablespoon Maca powder
1 tablespoon cacao nibs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup coconut water

Method:

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend for 60 sec until smooth and creamy. Pour into glass and enjoy.

Serves 1

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