The Yummiest Paleo Recipes EVER

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We have only one more day to go friends, and so I’ve rounded up my favorite Paleo recipes of all time. I find myself coming back to these again and again, even when intentionally eating Paleo is far from my mind…

Most of these recipes can be found on my Paleo Board on Pinterest. Pinterest is an amazing resource for Paleo recipes and inspiration. Included in this blog post are just a handful of the gazillions of recipes that are all amazingly delicious and easily found online. So make friends with Google and enter a world of deliciousness. I’m currently also re-reading Pete Evans‘ book Family Food.

Please try to make as MUCH of this as you can at home. Homemade is BEST. Cooking, baking and almond milk making gets your creative food juices going and is so healthy for the soul.

Michael Pollan says something along the lines of, ‘take as much time to prepare your food, as you do to eat it’. I like that quote. And I think he’s right.

RECIPES:

BREAKFAST: (I usually have fruit and nuts on weekdays and save the bacon and eggy kinda brekkie for the weekend).

– My all time fave is Paleo Granola. Basically 1 cup of each of the following: almonds, cashews, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and coconut flakes. You can throw some linseed and sesame seed in if you like (maybe half a cup of each). Mix all the nuts/seeds in a large bowl (except coconut flakes) and mix in about 1/4 cup melted coconut oil. If you want, you can squeeze in the juice of an orange for a touch of sweetness. Spread it out over a baking dish (or two) and bake at a low temp (110 degrees) for about an hour, mixing once in-between. Toast the coconut flakes separately as they burn quickly! Add the coconut flakes to the rest of the granola and store in airtight container.

This is best served over cut up fruit (apples, oranges, pears, strawberries etc). Since this is oat-free and nut HEAVY, you really only need a couple tablespoons of granola over your fruit. This amount of nuts might seem expensive initially but it will last you a fair while since you don’t need that much – not nearly the amount you would usually use when eating granola (museli). Also, if you find the nuts too big, you can chop them roughly in the very beginning. 

– Classic bacon and eggs, with balsamic grilled cherry tomatoes, garlic fried mushrooms, creamy avo and sweet potato hash. YUM.

sweet pot hash

– Spinach Beef Frittata. (I sometimes make these in cupcake pans so you have portion sizes that are just right!) Make up your own combinations too.

SNACKS:

– Banana chips (homemade)
– Apple chips with cinnamon (homemade)
– Cherry tomatoes
– Cut up apple and almond butter
– Beet dip and cucumber and carrot sticks
– Boiled eggs with paleo mayo
– Yam fries and aioli (paleo mayo, garlic and lemon juice)
– Kale chips. I know it is not everyone’s cup of tea but I love them.
– Spice-free biltong
– aaaaaaaaaaaand… Lara Balls (throw 1 cup almonds, 1 cup pitted dates, 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil into a food processor and blend to smitherines. Grab handfulls and squish into balls. Keep them in the fridge and nibble as you need. You can add a tablespoon or so of organic cacao powder or ground coffee beans if you’re wanting to add extra flavour). Lara Balls were essential in both my previous Whole30’s.

sweet pot friesbeet humus

LUNCHES & DINNERS (I find these quite interchangeable):

Your alternatives to a carby base: cauliflower rice, sweet pot/ yam hash or mash, zucchini ribbons and broccoli and cauliflower florets. You can also make spaghetti squash – but I can’t find spaghetti squash in South Africa. Hmmph.

You absolutely have to make cauliflower rice and sweet potato hash/mash as your hearty meal bases (where you would have used noodles/rice/bread etc.) Omit the lime and coriander from the cauliflower rice recipe if you don’t like those flavours – but I find them super scrumptious. Also, zucchini ribbons (peeling a zucchini like you would a carrot) and broccoli florets or roasted cauliflower are very versatile as bases for a spaghetti type mince or juicy vegetable something-or-other.

cauliflower rice

Soups: (while you’re at it – make double and freeze extra portions so you have spare for the following week, or for an unpredictably busy day). 

– I cannot get enough of this Roasted Butternut Soup. I can now make it with my eyes closed.
– Curried Cauliflower Soup (I buy cauliflower like its nobody’s business).
– Sweet Potato and Bacon Soup (with Ras el Hanout – take the time to make this – it’s easy and so worth it).
– Basil and Tomato Soup (with basil from your garden, obviously).

roasted butternut soup

Salads: (Rule of thumb for salads in general: include 1 green, 1 fruit or vegetable and 1 nut. Usually I would say add 1 cheese, but not while on Whole30).

– Chicken, Avo, Mango, Cilantro, Lime, Mint, & Toasted Cashew Salad. Oh my wooord – one of my all time best.
– Bacon, Lime and Sweet Pot Salad
– Grilled Chicken Citrus Salad

mango salad

Meaty Options:

– My BEST EVERRRR: Chipotle Chicken Sweet Pot Skins. Your friends will love you forever. Leave off the cheese. It’s a touch high maintenance, but so, so worth it.

chip chicken skins

– 2nd BEST: Homemade Burgers in Lettuce Wraps. Make it up as you wish. Add whatever tickles your fancy – but keep it dairy free. The crispy lettuce crunch with the warm homemade patty with juicy tomatoes and creamy avo. Stop it. It is so good.

fish tacos

Patty: Throw together minced beef, diced onion, salt, pepper, one egg, a handful of almond flour (leftover from your almond milk), coconut aminos (optional), herbs from the garden, balsamic vinegar, and crushed garlic. Shape into patties, pop in fridge for a while to let the flavours set in and fry in EVOO/Coconut oil on stove. Make extras as snacks. 

– 3rd BEST:  Fish Tacos. I have now started ordering fish tacos in (reputable seafood) restaurants I love them so so much. I adapt this recipe. I leave out the sugar, dairy and carb component and replace it with homemade paleo mayo and crispy lettuce as the wrap. Make this with a mango salsa. A taste sensation.

paleo mayo

Fish & Chips: If you don’t feel like making tacos you can just cook the fish and serve it with yam fries. Yum.

– 4th BEST: Moroccan Meatballs. Yum. Over and Over (on cauli rice). This is another recipe I have continued to make again and again long after our Whole30’s ended.

moroccan meatballs

– 5th BEST: Warm Veggie Salad. The hub is not a huge fan of this one, but I love it. I adapt this recipe (swap the potato for sweet potato or yam). I serve it on baby spinach and mix a couple more flavours into the sauce such as red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and chilli flakes.

When you’re lost for ideas, a frittata is always a safe bet (with whatever you have left in your pantry). Also, how about a delicious roast chicken with roasted veggies? So easy. Use the chicken carcass to make homemade chicken stock (in your Wonderbag) for your soups. So versatile huh?

roast chicken

BEVERAGES: 

– Water, drink it with lemon, or not. Just drink LOTS of it.
– Coffee and Tea with Almond Milk or Coconut Milk. These milks are SO easy to make and have no hidden sugars, preservatives etc. unlike store bought. Also roast the left over coconut and almond flours. They’ll come in handy.
– Soda Water with Lemon (my evening drink of choice)
– Naturally Flavoured Water
– Smoothies (so easy to make)
– Juices in your juicer – such as my fave: Beet, Apple & Ginger
– I’m allowing Kombucha since there is no hard and fast rule if it is allowed. I love it for its probiotic and gut health benefits and so feel it’s a great addition. It’s also a good thing to drink when you feel like a glass of wine.

Beet juice

NEW RECIPES I can’t wait to try:

– Healthy Taco Salad in a mason jar with this deeeelicious salsa.
– Roasted Sweet Pot Salad
– Thai Coconut Soup (I love Thai flavours, and ginger is so good for you)
– Coconut Crusted Chicken Patties (how have we not had these before?)

salsa

Pheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwww. That’s a lot of info to take in. I did so much research on my first Whole30, I put this PDF together with a shopping list, meal plan for my 4 weeks and it really helped me when I was feeling inspiration-less. Print it out and pin it up in your kitchen for when you’re needing ideas: Whole 30 – Schedule (Week 1,2,3,4).

Now it’s your turn! Please share your winning recipes, and your total failures (so we know to, errrmmm, give them a skip). Be inspired to do your own research and create your own meals.

Good luck and enjoy!!

xxx

Fudge

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I had a bad day today. My whole family woke up grumpy. From our screaming have-to-be-held-by-mother-at-every-moment-she-is-in-my-sight 1 year old, a tantrummy and completely irrational toddler, and then your general ‘the gold is at an all time low since 2009’, Nkandla robbery, stabbing on the N2, to the threat of more load shedding, and and and – it just happened to be one of those days. I’m usually a bright shining light of optimism, but not today.

As it turns out, my colleagues were having a pretty crap day themselves and so, since misery loves company, we took ourselves out for lunch to cheer ourselves up. A carb-filled lunch. Mine had strawberry chutney on it. Oh. Yum.


But amidst my moaning, I am eternally thankful. As I type my beautiful family is healthy, happy, safe and snuggled up warm in bed, listening to Kindermusik bedtime songs on repeat.

Regardless, just before we head into a month of Paleo, I figured I needed to splurge on making some old school fudge (mainly also to use up the last tin of condensed milk in the cupboard to avoid it’s tempting glare).

And so here’s my mom’s all time best fudge recipe. It’s cooked old school style – on the stove. There is absolutely nothing green about this. Nothing. That’s why this blog is called Our GreenISH Life. For days such as this. Don’t get all judgy on me.

I’m calling it Granny B’s Fudge: (since at home we just call it, well, ‘fudge’)

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar
1/4 (500g) block of butter
1/2 cup milk
1 can condensed milk

(pre-grease a square pan with very ungreen spray ‘n cook)

Method:

Melt the butter, sugar and milk on a medium heat. When it boils add the tin of condensed milk and stir your arm off. Literally.

Mom always stirs it for about 30min but I like my fudge a bit softer and crumblier and so I stir it for about 20min or until I like the shade of the fudge. This is a labour of love. And, trust me, your family will LOVE YOU. AND, if you think about it, stirring vigorously for almost half an hour must burn off so many calories before you’ve thrown anything in your mouth that you’re in the red on the calorie count before you’ve even begun. So mathematically, you have to eat some fudge post-cooking to break even. No brainer.

NB: You have to keeeeeep stiiiirring. Don’t stop. Not for anything. And even with a perfectly committed and undisturbed stirring discipline you may see a couple dark (ermmm… burnt) spots rise to the top – but don’t fear. You won’t see them at the end. It happens to the best of us.

Pour into the greased dish and cut it before it cools/hardens.

Pack it away before the kids get up in the morning so they’re none the wiser.

You’re welcome.

MUST HAVES in your Paleo Pantry

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So, because I’m the one initiating this Whole30/Paleo month, I feel like I need to be even more on top of it than usual. My type A is kicking in. Not only do I need to get my game on, but I then need to write about it as well. This is accountability at its max.

So – I’ve been shopping. Yeeeowzers, have I been shopping. I dare not tell the hubby how much money I spent on raw nuts last week (lucky for me I put it on the Canadian credit card and so it feels like a distant dream).

Paleo can seem expensive, but if you find the right shops and budget well – it doesn’t have to break the bank. If you’re doing the higher grade version and buying purely organic, 100% grass-fed, pastured kobe beef well then sure, you might crank it up a notch or two on the spending scale, but if you can’t, that’s fine. Do what you can do.

In terms of specific items – here are a few of the must haves in the pantry at.all.times. My top 5:

– Coconut Oil (organic or preferably organic virgin),
– Free Range Eggs (Elgin Free Range Chicken), and
– Nuts for my paleo granola, homemade nut butters and lara balls. I get them all from Yellow Submarine in Ottery (macadamia, almond, cashew, brazil, coconut flakes, dates, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds etc.)
– Coconut Milk/Cream. Buy cans by the dozen. You’ll be amazed at how versatile these babies are.
– Cumin. Well… I just love cumin.

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Fruit & Veg:

I mainly buy our fruits and veggies from our local Pick ‘n Pay – purely for my Vitality Healthy Food benefit (and cash back – see frugal, but smart), as well as Food Lovers when I need things in bulk (like making soups to freeze). When I’m feeling extra green I like to make use of an online organic food box system. I try not shop at Woolworths too much, mainly because I find their prices outrageous and I’m thrifty, and I felt a little fooled about their hormone-free – not so free – milk saga a while back. Holding a grudge? Clearly. Admittedly Woolies do sell good quality fruit and veg and if you are looking for something specific they’ll probably have it, and their fresh food lasts a good while. I also get suckered into their Eat In for under R200. Arghhh… they reel me in with their wonderfully sneaky marketing. (Urgh. did you see that? They even managed to turn me from an average supporter to a fairly pro supporter in just one paragraph. Amazing).

In general I am trying to move towards more of a food box system – mainly because its LOCAL, better tasting and organic, and c’mon – SA needs people to support the smaller entrepreneurs (farmers especially).

Here are a few options you can go with, which I’m going to be making use of this Paleo with Me August.

1) Wild Organics (mini bag R110 and medium bag is R160)
2) Think Organic (budget pack R105 and family pack R155)
3) Abalimi & Harvest of Hope (check out their website and Facebook Page)
4) Ethical Co-op (boxes range from R170 – R115).

And use herbs (from your garden for goodness sake). Please go herb shopping and plant them in the new awesome GROWbags and use them at every opportunity. Once your body has started cleaning out the rubbish, your taste buds will reawaken and these incredibly flavoursome little green leaves will become your best friends.

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I can’t do without: avocados, cherry tomatoes, yams, cauliflower, coriander, lemons, beets and dates.

Healthy Oils/Fats: 

Let’s keep this simple – the most popular and easily accessible oils to cook with are coconut oil and extra-virgin olive oil. If you stick with those you can’t go wrong. Get stocked up on some Oh Mega nut butters (except for the peanut butters – those aren’t allowed). Nuts are the BEST thing to snack on (although, let’s not go overboard).

You can also make almond milk if you simply cannot drink tea and coffee without ‘milk’ in it.

I can’t do without: coconut oil, cashew nuts, almond butter, and almonds (for lara balls).

Just a 1kg bag of cashews for the road. As you do.

Protein:

A couple tips when it comes to protein:

– Fish: please buy wild fish,
– Chicken/Poultry/Eggs: please buy free range,
– Beef: at minimum, please eat lean, fat trimmed/drained beef (remember, we are not banting), and at best, please try find grass-fed and/or organic beef (budget related).
– Processed meat (bacon, sausages, deli meats): please try avoid factory-farmed, or anything with added sugar or MSG, sulfites or carrageenan.

I can’t do without: all of the above really. They are all needed for some of my all time favourite Paleo recipes (coming soon). But don’t overdo it on the meat either. Lets glean the wisdom of our friend, Michael Pollan:

eat food not too much

michael-pollan-quote

Now that we have all the basic staples stocked, look out for the post coming with my favorite recipes. It’s going to be a goodie.

Any questions? Now is the time to ask…

ww.thesweetlight.com

Lemon Water – a must drink each morning…

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Thanks to Organic Health and Healthy Food House, we have 16 pretty awesome reasons to drink lemon water first thing in the morning. So, no more excuses.

Also – for those of you joining us on Paleo With Me August, this will be a good replacement for your morning coffee (if you can’t drink coffee without milk).

Here they are!

16 Ways in Which Lemon Water Helps Your Health

Lemon Water - the sweet light

1. Weight loss

Lemon water will help you maintain a healthy weight and regulate your blood sugar. The pectin contained in lemon water can also fight off those cravings, thus will make you eat less throughout the day.

2. Immune System

Lemon water also supports our lymphatic system as well, which works in conjunction with our immune system.

 3. Flu and Cold

Lemon enhances the immune system and has many antiviral and antibacterial effects, since it is rich in vitamin C, which makes it a superb remedy for colds and flu.

4. Acne

The consumption of lemon water in the morning will help to metabolize the acidic temperature of your body, and thus it will prevent those annoying breakouts.

5. Constipation

Drinking lemon water can prevent and get rid of constipation, for it promotes regular bowel movements. Undoubtedly, lemon water is great for your digestive health.

6. Kidney Stones

People often forget this benefit of lemon use. Lemons contain potassium which increases citrates in your urine, and in that way, it prevents the forming of oxalate, and flushes out kidney stones.

7. Gall Bladder

You can significantly reduce the pain due to gall bladder stones by drinking lemon water while you eat.

8. Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

TUMS can be substituted with lemon water.

9. Colitis

Lemon water can help to balance your pH levels, and Colitis is an imbalance of the acid/alkaline levels within the body.

10. Fibromyalgia

People dealing with exhaustion from fibromyalgia can drink lemon water in combination with yoga stretches in order to feel some improvement.

11. Joint Pain and Swelling

Lemon water helps to reduce the amounts of uric acid amounts in our joints, thus reducing inflammation. It is extremely beneficial for people with arthritis, since it reduces the pain.

12. Inflammation

Acidity is the leading cause of inflammation in tissues. Lemons possess anti-inflammatory properties so they neutralize acidity.

13. Finger Nail Health

Lemon water increases the hardness of one’s nails as well as clearing up those white spots that appear on them from time to time.

 14. Muscle Soreness

Drinking lemon water can reduce the pain in sore muscles substantially. So, after hard workout, do not forget to consume it.

15. Alcohol Cravings

Kick that alcohol craving by drinking lemon water at parties.

16. Food-Borne Illnesses

Drinking lemon water can help you to avoid any sort of food poisoning.

Beautiful images by The Sweet Light 

Preparing for Paleo

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Yesterday afternoon I popped into Food Lovers for some liquorice (it’s a problem) and I ended up with enough veggies to last me all of Paleo With Me Aug – okay, not really, but it sure felt like it. As I was meandering down the aisles I was remembering recipes, snacks, flavours and tips from my previous paleo experiences and was mentally preparing as I went (all the while enjoying my liquorice).

This over-shop resulted in an evening of butternut soup making, banana chip dehydrating and coriander pesto blending (without the parmesan).

One step is ESSENTIAL (read: E-SS-EN-TIAL) to starting strong, enjoying and succeeding at your month of Whole30/paleo eating, and it’s this: PREPARATION.

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Mentally: You need to be mentally prepared. It’s like running a race. I believe, up until a week or two before a race it’s ALL about mental prep – you can’t squeeze any more running into the last 2 weeks before a race. You gotta click into gear mentally. I’d encourage you to read, read, read. Read about how Whole30 started here.  Read through recipes and shopping lists and chat to people who have done this before. Get into the zone, understand what you can and cannot eat and why, plan dinner parties and family celebrations from September onwards. Create a Paleo board on Pinterest and pin your favourite recipes so you can go back to them time and time again. Get your brain in the game.

Here are my recommendations of where to read up on all things Paleo:

– Whole30 and their book ‘It Starts with Food‘ (read the entire website)
– The Clothes Make the Girl, and her books ‘Well Fed‘
– Paleo Grubs
– Stupid Easy Paleo
– NomNom Paleo

Emotionally: Understand this will require a lot of self control. You’ll need to make tough choices. You’ll have to say no to a lot of delicious food that comes past your face. But its for 30 days (well, 31 really, since we’re doing this in August). You’ll have to be brave, and courageous, and you will succeed if you want this enough. Want it enough.

As they say on the Whole30 website: ‘It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You’ve done harder things than this, and you have no excuse not to complete the program as written. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important health cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime’.

Practically: GO SHOPPING! Make your shopping list and go for it. Find some easy recipes and buy in bulk. Accept now, that you’ll need to take multiple trips to your fresh produce grocer every week. In my experience, the hardest part of Whole30 is feeling peckish (or downright starving) and scratching through your pantry with nothing to eat. Buy raw nuts, free range eggs, cherry tomatoes, avos and orange sweet potatoes in bulk.

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Once you have what you need in your pantry, prepare your kitchen. Remove all bad food and get cooking. Make soup and freeze it, boil eggs and have them ready to grab on the go, make beet humus and chop up crudités. Blend up almonds and make almond butter to eat with sliced apple, make homemade beef patties and pop them in the freezer, grate sweet potatoes and blend up cauliflower. Make paleo mayonnaise and salad dressing. Chop up fruits and veg and pack them in smoothie bags. Dehydrate apples and banana slices and have them on hand for when you need a nibble. Have your kitchen loaded with easy to grab and delicious paleo friendly foods.

Beet Humus

Make the time to prepare. It is vital. Take leave from work if you have to, give your kids extra iPad time, feed leftover ice cream to your husband or wife while you make homemade cashew butter and chicken stock.

If you’re prepared, not only will Whole30 change your life, but it will be remarkably easier and really, rather enjoyable.

(As always with this Paleo With Me August, please post additions tips, thoughts and any questions you might have below). 

5 things to think through before you give Birth

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Don’t get me started on my birth stories. I could go on forever in so much detail it will either get creepy, weepy, gory or intriguing – depending on who you are and whether you actually asked to hear the stories or not. After my first son was born, I was so blown away by the experience I studied to become a doula (because I felt drawn to attend any and every birth thereafter) and so you can imagine I’m a little obsessed when it comes to (late) pregnancy, labour, birth and squishy, gooey, vernix-covered newborns. I even very seriously considered getting a tattoo of the coordinates of BC Women’s Hospital (the most phenomenal, miraculous, beautifully life changing maternity hospital in Vancouver). Sometimes I used to just drive past, and gaze longingly inside imagining women in the beautiful state of labour. I warned you this could get creepy.

And so, when my (fairly naive) hubby and I arrived at our first pre-natal class in the ‘Couve and the nose-pierced, harem-pants-wearing, tattoo-covered, hair-braided doula-instructor encouraged us to bring rolls of white paper to the hospital to make ‘placenta art’ post-birth, you can imagine we were mentally packing up our ‘birth manual’, breathing exercise CD, incense sticks, and the hypno-birthing business card and running for the hills. Even considering a medication free hospital birth was a huge step for us.

All that to say, I’ve come a looooong loooong way from that first terrifying night of prenatal classes and I think I have given birth (a significant amount) more of the respect I feel it’s due. I’ve taken the time to think through things one might overlook in the signing of the hospital papers and donning of the hospital gown.

Here are a few things that, until I got my head into this big, beautiful birthing world, I’d never considered or even thought much about. But after being on this side of it all, I would highly encourage. (These are mainly directed at those planning a natural delivery, but can most certainly apply to both natural and caesar births).

Doula. Get a doula. A good doula is an INCREDIBLE gift to a birth team. She is consistent, wise, forward thinking, reassuring, safe, hands on, and very, very helpful. She’s not intrusive, and knows the birth is not about her. I can’t imagine having had my babies without a good, supportive birth team, especially my doulas who never left me and knew what I needed before I could articulate it (in nonsense-speak during active labour). I felt so cared for, understood and loved during birth. Good doulas will bring up most of these points below in consultations – and give you even more to think about, such as positions to labour in, natural pain relief options and ways to encourage a natural induction if you’re headed over the 42 week mark, as well as home birth, water birth, or hypnobirth information. Read up on the invaluable benefits of doulas here.

‘If a doula were a drug, it would be unethical not to use it’ – John H. Kennell, MD.

Delayed Cord Clamping. Delayed cord clamping is a birth practice ‘where the umbilical cord is not clamped or cut until after pulsations have ceased, or until after the placenta is delivered’. A growing number of new mums are choosing delayed cord clamping for their baby.

Umbilical cord blood is a baby’s life blood until birth. It contains many wonderfully precious cells, like stem cells, red blood cells and white blood cells (including cancer-fighting T-cells) to help fight disease and infection. Yet common practice is to quickly cut off this source of valuable cells at the moment of birth. More and more, people are holding off from this immediate ‘clamp’. Unless there is a medical reason for baby to be checked immediately after birth (which can definitely happen – it almost did with my first), there shouldn’t be any rush to have your cord clamped. In many cases, baby is birthed, lifted up and given to the mother with the cord still connected and held on mums tummy or chest (depending on how long the cord is) until the pulsations have decreased or until the placenta has been birthed. Chat to your care provider about it. (Also, on a side note – how about having your partner cut the cord?).

Your Placenta. Have you even seen one, or pondered the significance of that ‘afterbirth’ (or afterthought?). Friends of mine planted theirs under a tree at each of their childs’ first birthdays (which I think is incredibly special), and others have encapsulated theirs. Once you are holding a baby, who cares about the placenta right? Wrooooong. It is a beautifully fascinating and mysterious nutrient rich organ. It fed your baby. It sustained it. Instead of just checking its all there (which is very important in post partum!) and then tossing it, consider donating it to medical science, encapsulating it, keeping it, or at least giving it a little wink of thanks for all its hard work.

Kangaroo Care (skin on skin). Fight for skin on skin time with baby as much as you can. If for some reason you can’t have your bub on you, get your partner to strip down and put baby on them. It seems obvious, yet most of the time baby is wrapped up in a blanket and placed in a bassinet. There is so much research about the incredible benefits of (naked) skin on (naked) skin, this one is a no-brainer. And it goes beyond the delivery room – continue intentional skin on skin into the early days, weeks and months of life.

Lactation Support. Breastfeeding is not only beautiful, but very healthy, very normal and creates a particularly significant bond between mum and bub. As everyone says ‘breast is best’, but some new mums really struggle to breastfeed. Find help if need be. There are plenty of lactation consultants around, and heaps of advice online (such as La Leche League SA). And if you can’t breastfeed, don’t beat yourself up about it. Your body made a baby, and that’s pretty darn miraculous.

Featured image credit: Evidence Based Birth Blog.
(It is such a beautiful picture I want to cry.)

Be inspired at Cape Town’s Oranjezicht Famers Market

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This world of green, organic, natural goodness is inspiring. And closer than you think – it’s in Zille’s back garden!

Having recently moved back to South Africa after numerous years abroad, I’m still getting into my groove with the ‘what’s on’ calendar of Cape Town. And so a fair few weeks back, I grabbed my tribe and we hit the Oranjezicht City Organic Farmers Market at Premier Helen Zille’s residence. Truth be told I was more excited about seeing Zille wave to us from out her bedroom window than I was about the market itself (and this was our last shot – after this particular week the market was to move to Granger Bay for the winter), but she was quickly forgotten about once we arrived.

The rolling hills of fresh green lawn, a backdrop of our spectacular mountain, and water features most likely pulled off the set of Downton Abbey take your breath away. Then, you notice you’re walking to the sound of music, and you’re taken by the smell of good (as opposed to bad) coffee, fresh farm food and all around you are people of every kind… your early morning farmers-market types, (some with their soil covered hands, dogs by their sides and carrying well-worn produce baskets) to the German tourist, the local Cape Townian dressed in her Hunters boots and the young family on a Saturday morning outing – just lapping up the local flavour. The experience is literally a feast for all your senses.


You can find everything from bonsais, paleo marshmallows and sweet local majool dates to creamy flat whites, eggs benny on potato bread and bun-less burgers. Organic veggies of all variety are on offer, next to an array of orchards, free range eggs, raw milk, honey, milk kefir and kombucha. My senses were on overload.

Admittedly, in denial of winter approaching I had worn the incorrect shoes, my kids got a bit (a lot) muddy, and my toddler drank his ‘Bean There’ babychino too quickly so lost the plot in his realization he wasn’t getting any more, but otherwise it was a splendid morning outing.


What inspired me more is that people really do think like us and they are living like those choosing different ways of doing things and encouraging others to do the same. I LOVE that raw milk is available, that fermented drinks are celebrated (and normal) and soil covered veggies are desired, if not praised.

*The OZCF Market Day recently received the South African Heritage Award in the 2014 Eat Out Zonneblom Produce Awards.

Check out the Oranjezicht City Farmers Market every Saturday morning at Granger Bay from 9am – 2pm. For more info, visit the webiste here. 

 

Healthy Hot Chocolate

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It’s winter. Full and proper. And winter is synonymous with rain, indoor fires, wellies by day, slippers by night, thick chunky soup with toasted ciabatta, down duvets and hot chocolate and marshmallows.

I love a spoil (such as hot choc) but can’t get over the sugar laden, fake milk powdery, chemical-and-preservative-filled-nonsense-hot-choc. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that it isn’t delicious (it certainly is) but it’s not at all healthy. And since you can’t NOT have hot choc in winter – I made it my mission to find a healthier alternative.

I’m happy to report, I found 3 very good options (ranging in simplicity and preference):

1. The Red Basket Food Company’s Warm/Cold Chocolate:

This is simple: its a pre-made hot (or cold) choc powder ready to mix with warm or cold milk/water and voia la. It’s pretty decent tasting as far as a substitute goes and my 3yr old taste tester really enjoys it.

(Ingredients are: Isomalt, Cocoa (26%), Coconut Oil, MCT Oil, Sunflower Lecithin, Stevia, Xanthin Gum)

2. Superfoods Organic Cacao Powder (Raw Chocolate): MY FAVE

Superfoods have a great range of healthy healthy healthy powders, butters, seeds, berries and smoothie mixes. You can read up on the benefits of cacao powder here. The organic raw cacao powder can be mixed raw sugar (or honey) and milk to make a delicious and rich hot choc. I love the Superfoods range. Again, a real winner. I’d encourage you to sprinkle some organic cacao nibs on top on particularly cold nights.

3. Dairy-Free Mind Body Green Healthy Hot Choc (this one is a bit more higher grade – for those who are keen to give a slightly more complicated recipe a go…)

This version of hot chocolate is the perfect dairy-free alternative to the popular beverage. The recipe is full of minerals and healthy fats, including magnesium, silica, and omega-3 fatty acids. Raw cocoa, hemp hearts, Medjool dates, raw honey, vanilla powder, and cinnamon are the ingredients necessary for this recipe. You can experiment by adding other super foods such as goji berries and pre-soaked chia seeds. It is advised to start slowly until you become accustomed to these nutrient-dense foods.

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ Tbsp. of raw cocoa (you can use a melted chocolate bar if you prefer, but choose a high quality, fair-trade one with 70 to 80% cocoa and minimal added sugar)
  • 2 Tbsp hemp hearts
  • 2 Medjool dates
  • 1 Tbsp raw honey (more if you like)
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Preparation

Add all ingredients to your high-speed blender.
Bring 2 ½ cups of water to boil. (You can simply warm the water to the desired temperature if you prefer keeping the cocoa raw and all the enzymes intact.)
Blend and pour into your favorite cup.
Enjoy whether you’re in the midst of snow and ice or someplace warmer.

So – the moral of the story is clear. Don’t hold back. There’s no need to deny yourself this winter essential, in fact, we encourage you to dive in and go wild.

Pssssst… while on the hunt for healthy hot choc, I found this recipe for healthy CHOCOLATE and had everything in my pantry to make them – so I thought I’d add it to this post…

Directions for real, raw healthy chocolates (from Superfoods themselves) to eat alongside your real rich healthy hot choc (I mean – why not).

Ingredients

Preparation

Melt the cacao butter and coconut oil in a double boiler.
Add the melted liquid to your blender and add honey.
Slowly add the cacao powder and vanilla and blend on low speed until mixed. All ingredients can be mixed by hand if you don’t have a blender.
Pour into ice cube trays (or cupcake wrappers) and set in the fridge. 

… and don’t forget to add your homemade marshmallows. The options really are endless.

What’s your fave warm winter bevvie?

We are: We become in the space between

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Theran and I chose Ryler’s name when I was 40+ weeks pregnant, and no earlier. Had he been prem, he would have been extremely name-less. Friends forced babysitting services upon us and we landed up at a dessert spot down the road with coffee and cake and our ‘notes’ (not lists, notes). These included a billion pieces of paper with different words, in different languages, different meanings and parts broken up into different understandings with the majority of it all involving a generous amount of creative license.

You see, names are a pretty big deal in our family.

We had been in a season of very, very rich and beautiful community, the kind that changes who you are – the Ubuntu kind. We had lived amongst a community so intertwined and raw, so desperately loved and needing of each other, so open and real, we had changed. We lived amongst beauty, amongst hope and amongst struggle. We’d paid each other rent when we were out of jobs, we spotted each other’s coffee, textbooks and specials at The GAP. We cried, loved, laughed, and laboured together (literally, the baby-being-born kind). We had shared the heartbreak of miscarriage and sick parents and the joys of new life, dreams fulfilled and half marathons completed. It wasn’t so much the big stuff that changed us, although obviously it does, but it was that space in between. The space in between the first coffee and the second on a good friends’ couch or the taste of delicately flavoured food between mouthfuls. It’s the sound of the music between the notes.

The spaces (the points of time) between the beats of a heart is when the blood is forcably pushed into the new ventricle or atrium. It’s that space. It’s not the beat itself that is the big deal, but that time in-between, when the blood gets to where it’s going and does its job. Sure, it needs the heart to beat to do it, and the heart receives due credit, but the movement of the blood doesn’t get a pat on the shoulder when it does. But that’s when the magic happens.

Think about your in-between.

And so on April 29th 2014, just before 7am, after a beautifully real and intense labour (another significant space between), and water birth, Ryler Cael became Ryler Cael – We are : We become in the space between. We are, because YOU are.

And so to our dear Ryler – may you become an inspirer, a community builder, an intentionally relational being, an arm-lifter of the weak.

And as his daddy said to him on the day he was born, ‘the love is in the space between us; you’ll always be safe there’.

WIN with Earth Probiotic & Our Greenish Life

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There is an abundance of food scraps in this house. Like an overload. Every meal leaves behind veggie off-cuts, avo skin, fruit pips, egg shells and sweet potato peels.

Vancouver has a slick composting system… (blah blah blah, yes Debbie, we know Vancouver is brilliant at any-and-everything, you tell us all the time, blah blah blah), but really they do. The council DELIVERS composting bins TO YOU. Sigh. So when we returned to SA, and the common practice of being surrounded by food scraps accompanied us, we felt sick to our stomachs as we opened the bin and threw the beautiful, nutrient-rich waste away. We weren’t equipped to compost. It felt wrong. Intentional sin. A bit like buying un-free range eggs.

Fortunately, freedom returned when my toddler started at a farm-school and food scraps were requested as animal food. FAN-TASTIC. Our ‘waste’ was being lovingly carried in chubby, grubby hands, into the mouths of horses, goats, rabbits and chickens. Beautiful. Order (and soul satisfaction) was restored, but the need to compost at home was tapping me on the shoulder; I needed a long term solution.

And so I got chatting with Earth Probiotic about their food digester and bokashi bran. Bokashi what? I’m intimidated by hippie words I know nothing about. Bokashi, I thought, was one of those. But actually, it’s Japanese for “organic fermented matter”. Not so intimidating after all.

And so I gave this Bokashi Food Digester setup a go. ‘Haaaang on’, you may be asking… ‘What’s a Bokashi food digester?’ – well, that’s a good question.

‘The Bokashi Food Digester is an all natural, non toxic and 100% biodegradable solution allows all food waste to be composted. Food waste nutrients benefit soil thus improving soil health and improving plant and vegetable health.’

The idea is that you add food scraps to your food digester, alternating your scraps with a handful of bokashi bran. Bokashi is wheat-bran inoculated with a mix of probiotic bacteria, yeast and fungi. The goal? Bokashi juice. Bokashi juice is to your garden like water is to a man in the desert. Like chocolate to a child; like wine to a parent.

The Bokashi Food Digester is particularly well designed in that it comes with a sieve which is placed in the bottom of the bin so the bokashi juice can settle below it (to be tapped out) and won’t form mushed sludge with your food scraps. Our family filled a 20L food digester in just over a week (and the poor animals at school, got nothing). We layered our scraps between handfuls of bokashi and let it sit for 2 weeks. The bin lid fits tightly so there is no off-putting stench attracting flies, rodents or unwanted guests. Neat and tidy, just how I like it.

After two weeks, I tapped off my bokashi juice, and got almost 2L of the browny/orangy goodness! (Be sure not to store this next to your kombucha – they look identical). Wowzers. Bearing in mind, you need to dilute your bokashi juice heavily with water before use as it is highly acidic. 1:100 for lawns, 1:300 for gardens and pot plants, 1:500 for succulents and 1:1000 for sensitive plants. Also, your juice should be used within 24 hours after tapping for the best results.


It’s a fantastic system. It’s neat and easy to use. The empty bokashi bran tub can be used to store food scraps in your kitchen and then emptied into your large digester at the end of the day. After you’ve tapped your juice, you can add the food scraps to your worm farm, or bury it in the ground.

Keen to have your very own Earth Probiotic Bokashi Food Digester? Well luckily, Earth Probiotic, Our Greenish Life and Green Goods are giving one away! The prize is worth over R200. Yes, please.

Enter here:

Share this competition on Facebook for an extra entry.

Thanks for entering. Good Luck!

Contact Earth Priobiotic
(t) (27) 011 783 3380
(e) info@earthprobiotic.com
Physical Address: 3 Springhill Close, Moodie Hill, Morningside, Gauteng.
Web: www.earthprobiotic.co.za

Terms and Conditions

The competition runs from Wednesday 08 July – Wednesday 15 July 2015.
This competition is open to Cape Town residents only.
The winner will be chosen randomly and contacted via email.
Winner will be announced on the Our Greenish Life website and social media channels on Wednesday 15 July.

THIS COMPETITION IS CLOSED. Congrats to Valerie Duffield Anderson who won this awesome compo.