Next - Snacks!

Next up will be some delicious sweet and savoury healthyyyy snacks. *Cough date balls cough...*

When people become nutrition focused and start implementing change in their diets, what can really help is knowing what to munch on when you're a bit peckish. The bad stuff is such an easy trap to fall into when you're out, about and hungry! Having some compact high energy snacks that you can pop in your bag for those emergency times is a great way to avoid the sugar/fat cravings.

On another note we always always try to get organic when we can. But sometimes what you want isn't there or one's bank account doesn't allow it. Here is a guide to organic selectiveness:

Juicing and Smootherising

There is a lot of talk around at the moment about the benefits of fresh juice and green smoothies. It is a bit of a health fad and everyone and his dog is walkin' around straw sippin on the green stuff. It goes hand in hand with the "alkaline body" movement and if you're going to be drinking something other than water it's pretty awesome! But like everything, moderation is important. It's also super important to listen to your body and trust your intuition. Sometimes my body says "Hey River... let's have a coffee this morning and forget the juice!" ha.

That aside Calypso and I are pretty crazy about our juice combo's and will usually start the day with a fresh cold goodness (and text each other with many excited exclamation marks about some amazing new combination that's fallen out of our heads).

Here are a few of our favourite vege squashin' banana blendin liquified gold combo's. But ultimately the great thing about juicing/blending is that you can be as creative as you like and you can't really go wrong. 

ps: you want to be uber hipster like Calypso drink it out of a recycled jar whilst peddling down Brunswick st on your fixie, your dreads flying in the warm afternoon breeze... Ha! (Edit: Well played, haha. -C)

The Green Side...

Coming next is a few of our favourite green smoothie and juice combos - a great way to start the day.

Cartoon by a talented friend Jeremy Ville

Real Cherry Ripe

     When I saw cherries on sale for $6 a kilo last week, I just grabbed as many of them as I could carry. Last time River and I cooked a feast, we accidentally discovered a recipe that was super easy, indulgent, messy and satisfying (all my favourite things for a dessert to be). We basically opened up each fresh cherry we ate, picked out the stone and shoved a square of organic super dark chocolate in there with a pinch of shredded coconut and chomped the whole juicy mess in one bite. Needless to say, it was a beautiful discovery.


      We hosted a feast for our friends a few weeks later, one of whom is extremely allergic to nuts, so when I tried to think of a wholesome but satisfying, vegan, nut-free dessert, something like this seemed like the obvious choice. After looking around for quite a while, unsatisfied with the condensed milk, sugary glace cherries and processed biscuit crumb based recipes on most blogs, I finally found Wholesome Cook's amazing recipe for Homemade Cherry Ripe Bites. Inspired, we took the idea of that recipe and made it our own.

Raw Zucchini Pasta with Sunflower Seed Pesto and Capsicum Bean Sauce

     This was a real tester. We had never done a raw pasta before but were so intrigued by other recipes we wanted to give our own a go. It is very handy if you have a mandolin for slicing the zucchini super fine. But you can make it without just on a the broad singular tooth of a grater or a large vegetable peeler. 

      We made it for some friends, both Vegies and Carnivores, and everyone loved it! It was a smash and i know we'll be making it again. We had a friend that is very allergic to nuts so we made a pesto with soaked sunflower seeds instead. It turned out fabulous that I may revert to this recipe instead!

Carrot and Ginger Soup

      Soups are one of my favourite things. There are a no brainer. Throw some vegies that you like in a pot or in the oven... cook... blend. This one is a really nice simple recipe that can be great for a starter. The ginger gives it a bit of a kick and as we all know, ginger is renowned for its healing properties. Drink it with honey and lemon for the throat, chew on it for head aches and stomach aches. 

The flavour of soups really come together after a day or two so make a whole bunch and leave in the fridge or freeze for another day.

Quinoa and Sundried Tomato Stuffed Eggplant with Tomato Bean Salad

     This is a delicious warm dish full of flavour. As Vegetarian/Vegans we eat a lot of eggplant. There are so many ways you can stuff an eggplant and you can really be creative.   
                

      I like this one because it is pretty quick and easy with beautiful rich flavours, thanks to the toms and olives. Those salty devils...