Baking, Dessert, Snacks, Treats

Banana and Pecan Loaf

by Anna

I love banana cake, banana bread, banana smoothies, banana ice cream. Huge fan. And a while ago a good friend of mine told me about a great recipe by the talented Real Food Pledge for the most excellent banana and pecan loaf, and although I can’t claim it as my own (although as it’s so good I wish I could!!), I wanted to share it with you guys. It’s 100% clean eating and 200% delish so give it a whirl! It’s also fail proof which is a massive bonus.

This loaf is a great snack and it freezes well. I like to make it on the weekend, slice it up then freeze pieces to take to work during the week; such a good treat during the day.

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Nut butters, Snacks

Almond Butter

by Anna

Almond butter is an absolute favourite of mine. I love it on EVERYTHING. It’s a good alternative to peanut butter (another love) and is also delish stuffed into dates, on apple, mixed into natural yoghurt, dolloped on top of breakfast, chia pudding, in porridge, on toast/crackers – whatever you want really! It’s packed with protein, good fats and is naturally sweet.

I have been spastically busy lately with a mixture of family stuff, friend stuff, health and exercise stuff and work stuff. All of the things. So today I decided I needed some meditative kitchen time to chill out and get my creative on – I’ve been useless with my blog recently, sorry! I really love making nut butters as it’s kind of brilliant really that you can take a raw and natural product of the earth, and with a little time and love, turn it into buttery delight that is so good for you!

Give the below a whirl if you fancy …

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Dinner, Lunch, Salads

Nourishing bowl goodness

by Anna

I eat a lot of salad. Like, heaps. It’s weird how much salad I eat, but I find salad so easy, versatile and super yummy, so I classify them as a daily life win. Also, as I spend my days working in an office (sob) I find that eating salad for lunch helps to avoid the afternoon ‘slump’ (although I still wouldn’t say no to a cheeky nap), and I find that I just feel better in general as I have to either sit or stand in one place for a prolonged period of time and I don’t like feeling ‘heavy’ or blergh.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been gallivanting around NZ (sort of) as my brother and his wife have been visiting from mighty America, which has been completely awesome! However, this has meant that between climbing enormous hills above Queenstown and falling into an Ice Bar for a cocktail, I have been out of my usual prep and eating routine, and my body/organs/energy levels are telling me to haul myself back back onto the salad train and kick back into making delish nourishing bowls to up my greens. In saying that, I was the person who rocked up to the family holiday with a giant bottle of homemade green juice – yep, expect nothing less fam-jam!

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Exercise rambles, Health, Snacks

The universe of the fit and healthy

by Anna

Alright, so, this post is about running and pre-running/exercising snacks in general, but it’s mostly about running. If you’re mainly interested in the snack ideas, I suggest you scroll down to the bottom of this post, otherwise, sit back, relax and enjoy the ramble.

Running is my happy place and I LOVE IT. I’ve run since I was quite wee and I now feel like it makes up part of who I am. Running for me is my time to relax and zone, and a time when tend to ponder on life things and make decisions – how productive! I am however very aware that not everyone is like me and some people would rather stick pins in their eyes than go for a run, or to bootcamp (at the crack of dawn), or for a tramp, or water ski, and fair enough it does sound quite awful really with all of the plodding and sweating and lycra and rain and wind and stuff. I think it’s one of those things that you either love or hate, and don’t get me wrong, I don’t like all sorts of running – take sprinting for example – err no thank you. Yuck.

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Health, Ingredients

But I said you were the good kind of fat…

by Anna

“But I said you were the good kind of fat” … said no one ever who wanted to stay in their relationship. However, good fats in relation to foods are increasingly becoming recognised as ‘good’ rather than evil. Take this from someone who used to be petrified of fat – all fat, even the good kind – and I would actively avoid it. I wouldn’t even eat avocado – what a nutcase. I ate low-fat everything which I now know effectively means I was eating fake products loaded with chemicals and extra sugar … not ideal, but even if someone had told me back then that some fat was OK (which they probably did), I would have ignored them (retrospective apologies to you all!!). NB: Low fat products = chemical sh*t storm – who knew?!

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not some superhero who suddenly changed their ways over night, but over time and after a lot of reading, self-educating and reflection, I now have a better understanding of fat and what is good-for-you fat and what we should stay away from. I’m still learning as I go but have slowly made changes regarding which fats I’m happy to consume, and which ones I now ninja away from. So I’ll blab on about fat for a bit below, and feel free to take whatever you fancy from it and biff the rest from your brain!

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Baking, Chocolate, Dessert, Treats

Sweet Georgia holy yums …

by Anna

Did someone say salted caramel? Say no more. I’m in! My love for savoury/salty-sweet things began a few years ago when I was lucky enough to live in Galway on the west coast of Ireland. I LOVED IT THERE!!!

I spent a year in Galway, and amongst other things it was a year filled with meeting some of the most delightful and amazing people, a lot of rain (of course), hilarity, adventures, owning a bike painted like a cow – aka the ‘cow-cycle’, Guinness (I grew to like it!), cobbled streets, living an extremely carefree lifestyle and drinking an extreme amount of of tea. Some of my fondest memories come from Ireland – if you ever have the opportunity to visit, you most definitely should.

My life in Ireland was born whilst I was living in Paris. I was 21 and had arrived in France with a one-way ticket and not a lot of money. After living in Paris I wasn’t ready to move back to NZ, so after chatting with and Irish friend in France, and google image searching Cork and Galway, I decided that Galway looked pretty quaint and Irishy, so I went. That makes me sound like an extremely relaxed person and like I do things randomly on a whim – I actually don’t usually, although sometimes I wish I did. I must have been slightly mad at the time (not unlikely) and so my solo Irish adventure began.

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Breakfast, Lunch, Treats

Peanut butter oaty pancake delight!

by Anna

Few things can top good ol homemade pancakes. I remember when I was little they were a treat that we would have sometimes after swimming lessons on a Sunday evening – topped with lemon juice and sugar, or golden syrup. Um, yum. There is something quite comforting and homely about pancakes, so it only seems right to be able to enjoy a clean eating version of them. They are yum AND healthy! Such a win.

Hands up who’s a peanut butter fan? I never used to be, I thought it was similar to margarine injected with peanut flavour and I found it super gross. It is now however, something I love (along with all other nut butters!). I like peanut butter with banana, peanut butter with honey, peanut butter with raw chocolate … peanut butter everything!! I opt for the natural variety – usually Pics (local from Nelson) – but it is pretty spendy. It’s a more thrifty option to make your own – I’ll put a post up with a recipe soon! You can buy non-natural brands but unfortunately folks, they aren’t super good for you 🙁 sob.

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