Coconut Cacao Banana Cake [Recipe]

Coconut Cacao Banana Cake [Recipe]

Healthy Banana Cake! Real Foodie Friday I’m so pleased to introduce you all to Meg Kummerow, who has generously donated her Coconut Cacao Banana Cake for Real Foodie Friday! Meg has also written a little bit about her background, food philosophy (it’s pretty awesome!) and family life to share with you. Thank you for sharing your delicious recipe Meg! Now let’s get cooking and EAT REAL FOOD together! Viki 🙂   Hi, I’m Meg!  I live on a farm west of Toowoomba with my husband and two daughters.  Farming and agriculture is my passion and whilst we are no longer farmers

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Are your Cravings really an Addiction?

Are your Cravings really an Addiction?

The Brain and Addiction Following on from last Blog article about Cravings, you now hopefully have a better understanding of the difference between “body hunger versus mind hunger”. In short, one is genuine and the other is playing tricks on us. Let’s look a little deeper into understanding the parts of the brain that are activated when we crave specific foods. In 2004, participants in a study were asked to think about a favourite food. The participants’ resulting fMRI images displayed three primary areas in the brain that lit up: the hippocampus, insula and caudate. [Source: Monell] The hippocampus, located in

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Raw Chocolate Fudge Wheel [Recipe]

Raw Chocolate Fudge Wheel [Recipe]

Raw Chocolate Fudge Wheel It’s REAL FOODIE FRIDAY! I’ve officially created an absolute decadent delight for you all! This one is raw, vegan, dairy free, gluten free and naturally sweetened. The raw chocolate base is fructose free, but of course some of the toppings aren’t. However, therein lies the beauty of customising your own raw and healthy chocolate delights because you can choose whichever substitutes you prefer! If you prefer a creamier, softer consistency, simply add a little more coconut milk! This recipe is taken from my new 145 page eBook Healthy Chocolate Delights! Over 60 raw, cooked, vegan, paleo, dairy free,

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Are Your Cravings Real?

Are Your Cravings Real?

Mind or Body Cravings? In previous blog posts I’ve explained how when we restrict and deny nourishment to our body (dieting), we often wrestle with cravings (also tiredness and mood swings) until the brain overrides our willpower and has us reaching for a quick fix of fat, sugar and salt. Hunger and cravings are two different sensations. The body regulates our hunger, while the mind wields greater power over food cravings. Hunger serves a more functional purpose, signalling our brains that it’s time to eat and replenish the energy and information we’re running low on. To recap previous articles about the

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Pumpkin & Chickpea Curry [Recipe]

Pumpkin & Chickpea Curry [Recipe]

Hearty Pumpkin & Chickpea Curry It’s Foodie Friday! I just love a comforting, hot soup that tastes delicious, a little spicy, is easy on my digestion, and packs a big dose of true real food nourishment. This one is adapted from a Coles catalogue! I simply changed a few key ingredients to more healthful ones and opted for fresh where possible. Fairly easy, with a small amount of prep work (mostly chopping pumpkin) you’ll be able to get this nourishing bowl of goodness to the table in a short amount of no fuss time! When my Beloved Craig first made the original

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Green Smoothies and Raw Chocolate – A Food Demonstration Gig!

Green Smoothies and Raw Chocolate - A Food Demonstration Gig!

Green Smoothies and Raw Chocolate This last week I presented and spoke at the Annual ‘QLD Rural, Regional & Remote Women’s Network’ Ag Show Luncheon in Toowoomba. Packing my mason jars, greens, and Omniblend I was prepared for an inspiring food demonstration educating the ladies on the benefits of blending your greens (check out my article and greens video here) for health, energy, reduced cravings and better sleep and concentration. Sharing the stage with three other panellists from different backgrounds and expertise, we engaged in a discussion on, “Eating is an Agricultural Act” and discussed how we can start to improve our health by being aware

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Foodie Friday – Share a Healthy, Nutritious and Delicious Recipe

Foodie Friday - Share a Healthy, Nutritious and Delicious Recipe

Healthy, Nutritious and Delicious! Introducing “Real Foodie Fridays” to share our love of whole, natural, real food recipes! The weekend is a great opportunity to get creative in the kitchen making wholesome, nourishing foods and trying out new recipes! I love to create, make and expand on recipes all the time, especially using fresh ingredients from our garden or the local markets. My Beloved Craig jokes at how easily I can take what’s in the fridge or pantry and make something so healthy, nutritious and delicious so quickly out of so little! While he likes to research recipes, shop for specific ingredients, create a timeline

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Is Your Food Making You Sick?

Is Your Food Making You Sick?

Gut Bacteria & Your Food Is the food we’re eating on a regular basis the reason why we get sick? If we change our food, could we change the state of our health? Can we also affect our moods by making changes in our diet? I firmly believe we can. The collective human microbe colony weighs about 1 and a half kilos – as much as our brains! Bacteria outnumber our human cells by 10 to 1 and live predominantly inside our gut. Gut bacteria, also known as the Microbiome (pronounced micro.bi.ome) lives off of the food we eat. The problem is that certain foods feed good bacteria

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Coconut Chocolate Cake with Creamy Chocolate Frosting [Recipe]

Coconut Chocolate Cake with Creamy Chocolate Frosting [Recipe]

Coconut Chocolate Cake (or Cupcakes) REAL FOODIE FRIDAY Soft, spongy and chocolaty! Who doesn’t love a good chocolate cake? Especially when it doubles as moist and delicious cupcakes! This one just happens to be dairy free, gluten free, naturally sweetened and absolutely delicious. We serve this recipe as cupcakes to all the raw and healthy chocolate workshop students on arrival and they love them! Perfect treat for the whole family and easy to make – especially the creamy frosting on top! I also like to make two separate cakes and join the two cakes together as a double layer with frosting in-between, which is what

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Nutty Choc Granola Recipe

Nutty Choc Granola Recipe

Nuts for Chocolate Granola! I confess I’m a little late to the granola making party. Funnily enough I used to the love the cardboard boxed stuff years ago, and probably in retrospect had a mild addiction to the apple and cinnamon flavour. Granola wasn’t something I ever got around to making myself until a few weeks ago, after a rather inspiring episode of “Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen” on the Food and Lifestyle Channel. We loved this recipe so much I’ve made several more versions with various nuts, seeds and spice combinations. I first ate it with greek yoghurt, then coconut cream, pure cream, and also

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RAW Salty Caramel Tart [Recipe]

RAW Salty Caramel Tart [Recipe]

RAW Salty Caramel Tart OR Slice!! NB: This post was originally created for my 40th Birthday give-away in 2014. Time for a joyous celebratory recipe in the form of my  Raw Salty Caramel Tart (or Slice)  Recipe taken from my popular raw, dairy, gluten and refined sugar free, “Healthy Chocolate Delights” whole food sweet treats eBook! YUMMY 🙂   Base: 1 1/2 cups hazelnut meal 1/3 cup cacao powder 1/4 teaspoon rock or Himalayan salt 8-10 medjool dates (soaked in hot water for 5 mins and pitted) 1/4 cup desiccated coconut Alternative Non-Chocolate Base: 1 cup almonds 3/4 cup pepita seeds 1/4

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Eat Food. Mostly Plants. Not Too Much.

Eat Food. Mostly Plants. Not Too Much.

Eat (Real) Food I love to tell people about food designers, because most people haven’t even heard of the term, let along know it’s actually a job title. Food designers are a food manufacturer’s secret weapon. Their job description is to create the perfect ratio of fat, sugar and salt in a food product that will create opiates in the brain to have you craving more! Big fast-food companies rely on these food designers to create great wealth in their business at an even greater cost to public health. People restricting themselves on one diet or another especially find these

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My Easy Roasted Salted Caramel Macadamia Nuts

My Easy Roasted Salted Caramel Macadamia Nuts

Caramel Macadamia Nuts Recipe I love Macadamia nuts. Always have since I was a child. We often travelled up to the Sunshine Coast where my Grandparents lived, not far from the Big Pineapple tourist attraction and alongside the Macadamia Nut Factory. Macadamia nuts are buttery, crunchy and flavourful natives of Australia, although they are also cultivated in Hawaii and several other tropical climates. They’re rich in monounsaturated fats (great for heart health), plus high in fibre and flavonoids (antioxidants). I love them roasted – crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. This scrumptious little recipe is something I put together

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Eating Psychology Conference 2014

Eating Psychology Conference 2014

FREE Eating Psychology Online Conference Obesity, overeating, body image concerns, emotional challenges with food, and diet-related health issues have permeated our society, culture and mindsets. We’ve become the most unhealthy and unhappy we’ve ever been! Throughout my own recovery a huge A-ha! moment was realising that even though I was trying my hardest to watch what I ate and eat “healthy” food, my constant dogmatic, rigid and restrictive thinking was placing so much stress and imbalance within my body that it was impossible for me to find a healthy balance and weight. My digestive fire was just a glimmer of

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Gluten Free Grain Free Banana Bread Recipe

Gluten Free Grain Free Banana Bread Recipe

Banana Bread! Banana Bread! Oh, I do love a moist, soft and tasty banana bread. Especially when it fits under the category of clean and healthy eating, holistic living and gluten free, grain free. (Dairy free too if you prefer it). Banana bread is a scrumptious comfort food on a cold day when warmed with grass-fed butter on top and a cup of herbal tea! Am I making you hungry? Better get to the recipe quickly then! This recipe was one that I adapted from the lovely Jane at Marinya Cottage Kitchen, who adapted it from another blog, Sleep Love Eat. My recipe takes

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