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Monthly Archives

March 2021

Mar 31
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4 Recipe Blogs I always visit at Easter

By | Recipes

4 Recipe Blogs I always visit at Easter

Well it’s Easter time which means we are well and truly into 2021. I think we’ve got to take any celebration offered to us by the horns this year, don’t you think?

So totally enjoy some chocolate this Easter, and hot cross buns, and family time, and long weekend feast… but try to eat mindfully, chew slowly, savour each mouthful and listen to your body. There is no need to deprive yourself but there is also no need to lose control and eat so much that you no longer feel good.

Recipe Freebie!

I wanted to share one of my all time favourite chocolate recipes that I have been making regularly for about 8 years now, I know the recipe by heart. You can find the download for my Peppermint Patty recipe here. Did you eat Peppermint Patties when you were a kid? I sure did! I make these alll the time and I actually think they are an improvement on the original so trust me, you do not feel like you are compromising because they are decadently good! Hot tip from me, keep some in the freezer, they make amazing frozen treats.

But considering recipe development and food photography are really not high on my list of skill sets I wanted to share four of the recipe blogs I have been following for years and always check for delicious sweet treat recipes. The following four women are much more proficient in recipe blogging than I am!

  1. Wholefoods Simply https://wholefoodsimply.com/
  2. Teresa Cutter The Healthy Chef (her Naked Chocolate Cake is a celebration staple in our house!) https://thehealthychef.com/blogs/recipes
  3. Quirky Cooking if you have a Thermomix https://www.quirkycooking.com.au/
  4. Cyndi O’Meara’s Healthy Habits blog https://changinghabits.com.au/our-recipes/

So if you are looking for some Easter inspo you won’t be disappointed!

In my video this fortnight I’ve also got some exciting news! IBS month starts tomorrow and I’ve been working hard on some offerings.

  • Coming up is the launch of my 6 Days of Digestion mini eCourse! Finally!
  • I’m also opening an online store with a few select products that I use in clinic and have been able to source for retail!
  • And…I’m now a Metabolic Balance Practitioner! I’ll be sharing more about MB in the coming weeks.

I’ll see you around!

Tessa

P.S. You can share this video with anyone who might find it helpful by using the buttons below

Book a free 15 minute health chat with me here

Mar 16
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Healthy Meal Formula Part 2

By | Digestion, Gut Health, Whole foods

Assembling a Healthy Meal: herbs, condiments & additions

I have had so many responses from my last vlog on how to assemble a healthy meal that I needed to do a follow on!

So let’s unpack the herbs and garnishes component of your well-put-together meal. Grab a pen and paper and read on…

Herbs are little boosts of nutrition that also enhance the gut healing power of meals (and bonus that they make it taste even better!). They also pack a punch when it comes to antioxidant activity, as they are rich in polyphenols which are super important for gut health. Cloves, in particular, contain the highest antioxidant activity as per the ORAC score (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity).
Do you have a herb garden at home? It is one of the best feelings to collect some fresh herbs from the garden whilst you are cooking and it also enhances your connection to your food as well. Use herbs to garnish everything! Yes – even coriander!
Hint: you can make any meal have a more Mediterranean feel by roasting a tray of veggies in the oven that are sprinkled with herbs like oregano.

Nuts and seeds are also often forgotten. Toast them up for added texture and crunch to your meals and snacks.
Need ideas? What about toasted pistachios or hazelnuts on desserts, slithers of almonds on fish or chicken or crushed peanuts in curries. You can also toast them with some olive oil and spices like turmeric for an added nutritional boost. And don’t forget about hemp seeds which can be added to pretty much anything – sweet or savoury!

Seaweed is another nutrient booster that people don’t often think about. Sprinkle it on savoury dishes and your good gut microbes will love you! Keep some dulse, nori or wakame on hand in your kitchen.

Good quality salt (like celtic sea salt) – all you need is a pinch to really bring out the flavour in your meal.

Bone broth is another addition that boosts gut health and can be added to so many things – marinades, salad dressings, soups, stews, you can even use it as part of chicken schnitzel seasoning!

Fermented foods for a probiotic boost – if you can tolerate histamines. All you need is between a teaspoon to a tablespoon of kimchi or sauerkraut added to your meal.

Using greek yoghurt as a sauce is another option for a probiotic boost – add a squeeze of lemon and some salt and pepper and some herbs – it is delicious!

If you don’t mind the cost, superfood powders pack another powerhouse punch. Think camu camu, acai, kakadu plum, spirulina – there are so many options!

Even though they can often be classed as unhealthy, certain condiments can be added to really enhance your food flavour and texture. My favourite…pesto! There is also guacamole, tahini, mustard, hommus, nut butters.

And lastly, don’t forget some basics like lemon, lime and orange zest, vinegars, avocado oil, olive oil,  high-quality grass-fed butter and ghee.

Wow, what a list! Remember, our aim is to ingest around 40 different plant foods per week and the good news is most of the above contribute to this! So just by adding different condiments, herbs and nutrient additions to each meal you are easily boosting the variety of plant foods in your diet which makes your gut very very happy.

I love receiving feedback and seeing what you are adding to your meals so please tag me on social media or leave a comment below.

Mar 02
0

My Simple Healthy Meal Formula Part 1

By | Digestion, Gut Health, Whole foods

My formula for assembling a healthy meal

Today I’m talking about how we can really have an bio-individualistic approach to your diet, which takes into account your genes, your personal response to certain foods, your ethics and your values. I often like to ask my clients what their ancestors ate, or what their great-grandmother would consume.

Question: does your ancestral diet match the cultural diet that you have now?

Now there isn’t one perfect diet for everyone, even though there are some great diet protocols out there. Instead of placing you in a diet box or labelling how you eat, I have developed a process to transition you away from SAD (Standard Australian/American Diet), to a more balanced way of eating.

Actually, my two main rules when it comes to diet are Balance, and JERF (Just Eat Real Food). But I found that people really needed some guidelines that also were doable, flexible for those with food sensitivities, suited to different nationalities and values, and most importantly, it needed to be delicious, filling and make you feel amazing.

I call it The Ideal Plate. It’ll be covered in depth in my Six Days of Digestion mini ecourse, but let’s touch on the main principles today.

  • Half of your plate needs to contain green (or mostly green), non-starchy vegetables
  • A quarter of your plate contains the colourful and starchy vegetables, or plant-based foods such as legumes
  • The final quarter is divided into protein sources such as meat, poultry, fish, tempeh, etc, which ideally needs to be around the size of your palm, and fats such as olive oil, avocado, ghee, butter, and the like
  • Meal optimisation through herbs, spices, nuts, seeds and condiments to really boost flavour and nutrition.

Sounds simple, right? It is. Simple but highly effective, and exactly what goes in those ratios can be tailored to you as an individual.

Know someone who needs this? Please forward on this blog and help them to discover these guidelines that could make all the difference for them.